Vol. 17
Gifu Prefecture Tourism and Event Newsletter
July 2012 Edition
Greetings to all, and welcome to the beginning of summer! As announced in the previous edition, Gifu Crossroads is now a monthly publication, so here I introduce you to some of the notable events in Gifu Prefecture, the “Heartland of Japan,” for the month of July. Then, in the new section in which I introduce a different area of Gifu every edition, I will feature the wonderful city of Hida Takayama and overview some of its highlights as well as make suggestions for the independent traveler making his or her way there. Please enjoy! Gujo Dance July 14th~September 8th (designated dates only) Held over a span of 33 (non-consecutive) nights, the Gujo Dance, known in Japan as the “Gujo Odori,” is counted as one of Japan’s Three Great Bon Odori and has been performed for over 400 years! It is well-known throughout the country for its all-night dancing that takes place this year from August 13th to the 16th. On each night, travelers from afar join together with the locals to dance and enjoy the electric atmosphere together! Please come participate in the Gujo Dance…in a yukata (light summer kimono) that leaves you feeling fresh, comfortable, and light on your feet! Weekdays and Sundays: 8:00pm~10:30pm, Saturdays: 8:00pm~11:00pm Hachiman-cho, Gujo City, Gifu (exact venue location depends on the day) Access: [Nagaragawa Railway] Gujo Hachiman Station 15 min. on foot; alternatively, [Gifu Bus Tel: +81-575-67-0002 Hachiman Line] get off at Gujo Hachiman Castle Town Plaza stop http://www.gujohachiman.com/kanko/gujo_odori_e.htm
Festivals, Events, etc.
Gero Hot Spring “Ideyu” Evening Market Every Saturday from July 21st~August 25th In Gifu, you don’t find many evening markets like this except at festivals, so this market held in the streets of one of Japan’s three most famous hot springs, Gero, is not to be missed! Aside from stalls selling local specialty products, local sake, and of course food, there will also be other attractions and stage events to help get the excitement flowing! 7:00pm~10:00pm Venue: Lining the Atano River, Shirasagi Bridge, Gero Hot Spring Town, Gifu Access: [JR Takayama Line] Gero Station 5 minutes on foot Tel: +81-576-24-1000 http://www.city.gero.lg.jp/kankou/data/language/e/event.html Chunichi Newspaper Nagara River All-Japan Fireworks Festival July 28th One of the largest-scale fireworks festivals in the country, this show held in the skies over the Nagara River in Gifu City features over 30,000 fireworks of dazzling variety! With the clear streams of the Nagara River nearby keeping you cool and Gifu Castle looming overhead, it’s a spectacular venue for such a display of pyrotechnics! It wouldn’t be summer in Gifu without this festival, so come to Gifu, get caught up in the excitement with the locals and other travelers, and relax in a yukata while taking in the sights! 9:00am~8:45pm Venue: Banks of the Nagara River downstream of the Nagara Bridge, Gifu City, Gifu Access: Special bus leaving from JR and Meitetsu Gifu Stations Tel: +81-52-221-0671 http://www.gifucvb.or.jp/en/02_event/02_03.html Tagami Farm: Blueberry Picking NOW~late October At Tagami Farm, absolutely no agricultural chemicals or fertilizers are used, bringing you the best blueberries that you can find! With a 40-minute all-you-can-eat period in the farm, you can enjoy these natural, delicious fruits to your heart’s content! The farm is also known for its fabulous blueberry jam, also with no additives or preservatives, which makes for a terrific gift! Come enjoy some blueberries, known for their health benefits as well as their taste! Price for 40 minutes: Adults (junior high school age and older) – 1,000 yen; children (4 years ~ elementary school age) – 500 yen. 9:00am~5:00pm Tel: +81-576-26-2876 1315 Norimasa, Gero City, Gifu Access: [JR Takayama Line] Gero Station 15 min. by car http://www.tagami-farm.com/ (Jpn.) Tochimoto Farm: Cherry Tomato Picking July 10th~Late October In no time, the time will be ripe (literally!) for cherry tomato picking here in Gifu! The small, sweet tomatoes that everybody loves grow in abundance at the Tochimoto Farm, where you can pick your own cherry tomatoes at their very freshest! You won’t find many places in Japan like this that offer cherry tomato picking, so take advantage during these summer months! Price: 1,000 yen per 1 kg of cherry tomatoes to take home. 9:30am~12:00pm, 1:30pm~5:00pm 2235 Mimayano, Gero City, Gifu Access: [JR Takayama Line] Gero Station 15 min. by car http://tochimotonouen.com/ (Jpn.) Tel: +81-576-26-2763
Gifu Crossroads
July 2012
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Announcing the Re-opening of the Gifu Crossroads Blog!! In order to provide you all with more informative, more detailed, and more personal reflections and news about Gifu Prefecture, I have decided to set-up a new Wordpress.com page to replace the old Gifu Crossroads blog! With a sleek interface and an easy-to-navigate design, the new blog promises to be an invaluable platform for people looking to learn more about Gifu. Additionally, some of the content is geared specifically towards independent travelers, including its application of the new GIFU Prefecture Interactive Map, a Google Map which allows you to see points of interest throughout the prefecture on one map, will provide map codes, and allows you to search for directions! I truly believe that this new blog will become a treasure trove of travel information, so I hope that you make use of it! http://gifucrossroads.wordpress.com/
All Roads Lead to GIFU: Part I
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This is the first in a series of articles introducing different regions of Gifu Prefecture, and we start with one of its most famous locales, Hida Takayama (from here on referred to simply as “Takayama”)! The main goal of these reflective pieces is twofold: (1) to convey what the mustsee destinations are in a given area and (2) to look at that area from the perspective of an independent traveler and give pointers accordingly. It should also be noted that I have a lot more to say than will be included here, so for the full account, please check out the Gifu Crossroads Blog, where my overview of Takayama will be spread over several posts: http://gifucrossroads.wordpress.com/. Without further ado, then, on to Takayama!
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After buying tickets and making my way there by train, a process I will detail in on the blog, I was ready to explore the sights of the popular town. While many people make their way around on foot, I decided to make use of the bus system, since I was making my way first to the fabulous Hida Folk Village, or “Hida no Sato.” Leaving the JR Station, the Nohi Bus Center [photo 1] was only a 30-second walk away, and this is the center of all bus transportation in the region, whether you are making your way to Shirakawa-go, Shinhotaka, Matsumoto, or somewhere nearby like me. At the coin lockers next to the station, I also discovered that, if your luggage does not fit into the locker, you can check them in the station (though only during business hours and excluding Sundays) for the same small fee of ¥500! You rarely find this option, which is fantastic for people traveling “heavy.” So for those who tend to overpack (like me…), no worries when making your way to Takayama! Inside the Bus Center, I purchased a “Sarubobo Bus/Machinami Bus Open Ticket” [photo 2] for ¥600, a fantastic deal that allowed me to travel unlimited for the day on those two bus lines, which pretty much cover the entire immediate area including the Historic District, the Hida Folk Village, the Hida Takayama Museum of Art, and much more. Of course, walking around Takayama is an essential way of enjoying the area, but distance can also become a factor, which is why the small price of this day pass is well worth it. This was my first time visiting the Hida Folk Village [photo 3], and I have to admit that I was stunned by its beauty, its depth, and the significant glimpses it offers into the traditional Hida lifestyle over the past centuries. As soon as you walk in, you are greeted by the gorgeous sight of a gassho-zukuri style house (like the ones in Shirakawa-go) as well as other old-style houses [photo 4] surrounding a vast pond in the center. The purpose of the Village, which was built on land previously used for samurai residences, is to protect and preserve the culture, architecture, and way of life of the inhabitants of the Hida region over the years and to display these for all to see. From the time I spent wandering the expansive grounds, the Village accomplishes this goal superbly; each house has its own theme, and a glance inside most of the houses reveals not only fantastically-preserved insides but also miniature models [photo 5] and tools that contextualize the houses, describe their purposes, and provide insight into what was actually done there.
Gifu Crossroads
July 2012
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Another exciting element of the Village is that throughout the grounds, artisans and craftsman can be found doing what they do best. You can try your hand at some craftsrelated activities, but watching the masters is just as engaging, if not more so. I was particularly taken with the ichii ittobori (“one-knife yew-carving”) handiwork that the craftsman in one house at the edge of the grounds was busy creating [photo 6]. The artisans brought the open-air museum to life and made it more than just a place where relics were preserved, and because of that I felt that this was one place that SHOULD NOT BE MISSED when one is in Takayama. It may be somewhat more difficult to access than the famous old streets of Takayama, but the frequently-running buses make a visit to the Hida Folk Village, for what should make for an extremely memorable experience, a no-brainer!
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Taking the bus back to the “Sanmachi street” area lined with traditional houses that bring forth images of Edo Japan, I then wandered the Historic District and essentially ate everything in sight [photo 7: Hida beef-stuffed bun]! A stop at a Takayama ramen shop is a must, as Takayama is quite famous for this dish [photo 8]. Also called chuka soba (“Chinese soba,” or buckwheat noodles), Takayama ramen is in fact not soba, a quirky fact which makes one wonder aloud who decided to give it that name…I also learned that Takayama ramen has a very unique quality when compared to ramen elsewhere: its taste differs depending on when you go to get some! This is a result of the cooking process, in which the soy sauce base is already added to the boiling pot of broth long before. With most other ramen, a concentrated amount of sauce is normally added separately at the end, which means that the taste will be standard no matter how long the pot of broth has been boiling! In any case, the chashu (“roast pork”) was tender and succulent, the portion was generous, and I was decidedly satisfied upon finishing ☺ !
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The last location I will mention here is the Higashiyama Walking Course, a pleasant string of Buddhist temples that makes for a nice stroll away from the center of town and reminds you why Takayama is regarded as a “Little Kyoto” [photos 9, 10]. Some of these temples are quite old and impressive, and yet you neither have to go very far to see them nor have to spend all day there. The area is simply a nice addition to the Takayama atmosphere and experience, and it will especially please those who enjoy a walk in a quiet environment, so I highly recommend it! It also affords some nice views of Takayama from a distance and allows you to take in the scenery of the surrounding mountains, something that you don’t really get to appreciate when you’re walking along the old streets! I hope that something in this entry will prove useful to you, and as I said, much more about going to and around Takayama will be posted on the new Gifu Crossroads Blog, so please take a look! Until next month!
Making a trip to Takayama easier and more affordable than ever! Gifu Prefecture and the JR Central Japan Railway Company are continuing to bring you an independent travel package to Takayama like no other! 3 nights in Takayama and 2 nights in Nagoya PLUS round-trip train tickets from Nagoya to Takayama PLUS round-trip tickets to Kyoto or Ise or Shizuoka PLUS more! For detailed information about this jampacked travel option, please refer to the following website: http://japanican.com/tours/list.aspx?kw=stayrailtakahaku For questions, comments, or to unsubscribe, please contact c11334@pref.gifu.lg.jp For more on tourism in Gifu Prefecture, please refer to the following resources: ☆Gifu Crossroads Facebook Page☆ ☆ Gifu Travel Guide http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gifu-Crossroads/165137586854382 http://travel.kankou-gifu.jp/en/ ☆ Gifu Crossroads Blog ☆ Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) http://gifucrossroads.wordpress.com/ http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/ Central Japan Tourism Promotion Association http://go-centraljapan.jp/en/area/gifu/index.html Publisher: Tourism Division, Tourism Exchange Promotion Office Department of Commerce, Labor and Industry Gifu Prefectural Government 2-1-1 Yabuta-minami, Gifu City, GIFU 500-8570
Gifu Crossroads
Tel: +81-058-272-1111 (Ext. 3058) Fax: +81-058-278-2674 Email: q00869@pref.gifu.lg.jp
July 2012
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