Nobunaga’s Bustling River Port and Favorite Ukai Fishing: Gifu City

After three days spent following the Nagara River south, we finally arrived at our final destination: Gifu City, which is located just 30 minutes from Seki by car. Unlike the other cities on our journey, Gifu is a sweeping metropolis. As the final stop along the trade route of the four cities that make up the Nagara River region, Gifu City’s explosive growth was only natural. For centuries, it was a major center of trade, and all the goods from Gujo, Mino, and Seki were collected here before being shipped to the rest of Japan. The area adjacent to the Nagara River is still peppered with storehouses where these trade goods were kept. Just a couple centuries ago, these storehouses were brimming with Mino washi paper and Seki blades on their way out to the rest of the country.

Strategic Location

Due to its location on the Nagara River in the middle of Japan’s main island of Honshu, Gifu (originally called Inokuchi) was a critical region during the Warring States period (1467–1568), when countless samurai warlords vied for land and power. Rising from the tumult of these warring factions was the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534–1582), who integrated a large majority of the country under his leadership and is known as the first of Japan’s three great unifiers. Nobunaga took control of Inokuchi in 1567 and renamed it Gifu. He established his seat of power at Gifu Castle at the top of Mt. Kinka, which sits directly beside the Nagara River.

Nobunaga did not achieve success simply from his fierce military prowess and ambition, but also through his openness to foreign ideas and the implementation of free trade. He famously hosted the Jesuit missionary Luis Frois in Gifu in 1569. Nobunaga reportedly showered Frois with hospitality and even personally brought trays of food to his new friend during mealtimes. He also entertained Frois with local Gifu culture, such as taking him to watch ukai cormorant fishing.

Ukai Cormorant Fishing

Ukai is a custom with over 1,300 years of history, in which cormorant handlers, called usho, train wild-caught cormorants to catch sweetfish. Ukai is practiced in a few places throughout Japan where the rivers are clean enough for sweetfish to thrive, but only the Nagara River usho are the Master Fishers of the Imperial Household Agency. This inherited position is responsible for procuring sweetfish for the imperial family, as well as caring for the cormorant birds year-round. Three of these usho live in the Oze neighborhood of Seki, while the other six are here in Gifu, where the torchlit fishing takes place at the foot of Mt. Kinka. It is believed that Nobunaga created the “usho” title, and it is likely thanks to his influence that Gifu’s ukai is especially well-known.

Our first stop in Gifu was the two-story Nagara River Ukai Museum, which has a cafe and free spaces where a traveler can stop in to rest and enjoy views of Mt. Kinka, Gifu Castle, and the stretch of the river where usho fish with their birds. On the summer nights when the ukai happens, the riverbanks bustle with spectators, and pleasure boats gather around the birds and their handlers. During the day, however, the river is as quiet as the museum’s lounge. Aside from books and displays about ukai, the museum displays a series of photos that show every stretch of the Nagara River, from Hakusan National Park to Ise Bay.
Once we stepped inside the exhibitions, however, we found ourselves energized by all the dramatic, informative, and interactive displays. The hands-on exhibits, which offered surprise after surprise with peep holes, quizzes, and moving features, focused on the usho, the cormorants, the history of ukai, and how sweetfish depend on the clear waters of the Nagara River. A short video in the theater room uses a life-sized model of an ukai boat, multiple large screens, and surround sound, to recreate the experience as close as you can get during the ukai off-season. If even that is not real enough for you, there is also an enclosure outside to observe a small flock of cormorants.

Gifu Handcrafts: Goods Brought Down the Nagara River

After the museum, we explored Kawara-machi, the neighborhood located at the foot of Mt. Kinka along the Nagara River. This neighborhood was historically Gifu’s trade port. Like Gujo’s neighborhood of Gujo Hachiman, Kawaramachi was also a bustling castle town that attracted merchants. This legacy is visible in the many storehouses which dot the area where merchants would store goods that came down the Nagara River.

We grabbed a light meal at Cafe&gallery Kawaramachi-ya, a cafe created from one of Gifu’s signature storehouses. The storehouse has been converted into a two-story eating space. We indulged in some sweets and coffee on the second floor, basking in the cafe’s retro atmosphere.
We then walked a couple of minutes down the street to the shop Sumii Tomijiro Shoten, which specializes in paper fans, including mizu uchiwa, one of Gifu’s signature folkcrafts. Gifu mizu uchiwa (literally, “water fan”) are made from Mino washi paper and are coated in a varnish which gives them a translucent and shiny finish reminiscent of clear water. The shop features a raised floor area where the owner crafts chiwa. We sat on chairs beside this workspace and observed the techniques of the owner, who told us about his work and showed us different chiwa he had for sale, which ranged from colorful mizu uchiwa to red, hand painted fans coated in lacquer.
In addition to mizu uchiwa, Gifu is also famous for its chochin paper lanterns and traditional wagasa umbrellas. All three of these renowned crafts use Mino washi. At Wagasa CASA, we got to try our hand at painting our own mini paper umbrellas. The staff first explained the different types of wagasa and allowed us to try opening and closing the umbrellas they had on sale. When closed, the umbrella’s pattern is hidden. Opening each one and revealing their elegant patterns felt like a small surprise each time. With a new understanding of these traditional umbrellas under our belts, we sat down to make our own. After picking from amongst different colored umbrellas, we got to work painting our original designs. With free artistic rein, we took charge of the new surprise designs (to the best of our abilities), and left the shop with perfect, one-of-a-kind souvenirs.

Gifu Castle and Shoboji Temple

With our new umbrellas, we headed to the nearby ropeway station to head up to Gifu Castle on the top of Mt. Kinka. The brief ropeway ride took us over Gifu Park’s three-storied pagoda, which towers in brilliant vermillion amidst the lush greenery of trees. As we exited the ropeway station on top of the mountain, we were greeted by Mt. Kinka Squirrel Village, a small petting zoo area where you can hand-feed red-bellied tree squirrels.
We made the approximately 8-minute climb to the top of Mt. Kinka, where the castle tower overlooks the city. From the main keep’s observation deck, we could see the sprawling flow of the Nagara River and even see as far as Nagoya. The tower also has a museum with records of the castle’s history, as well as some of Nobunaga’s personal effects, such as a pair of glasses and a folding screen painted with a world map.
The sun was setting as we took the ropeway back down Mt. Kinka. Our guide invited us to check out a couple of Gifu’s seasonal illumination events, including a large-scale projection mapping event at the foot of the mountain. This event lasts for just about one week during the winter and changes its theme each year. We received our own mini paper lanterns to light our way as we walked the night paths, which we used on our way to Shoboji Temple to see the Gifu Great Buddha, a 13.6-meter-tall wooden sculpture of the historical Buddha.
The Gifu Great Buddha is notable for its very unique construction; the statue was made by creating a frame around a large pillar of gingko wood and covering it with clay. The clay surface was then completely covered in strips of Buddhist scriptures copied onto Mino washi paper before a final coating of lacquer and gold leaf gave it its radiant shine. Because we were lucky enough to visit Gifu during the illumination event, we were able to see this awe-inspiring statue with its mandorla aglow with a color-changing light.

Ending Our Journey

As our last day came to a close, we sat down for dinner at the restaurant Bunkaya, which sits over the Nagara River. The river is a recurring motif in the restaurant’s design, including the wavelike design on its windows. The restaurant offers a course meal and monthly specials based on seasonal ingredients and incorporates local products to give diners a taste of Gifu cuisine. We sat back and enjoyed each dish as we looked out the large windows onto the nighttime views of the Nagara River.
Finally, it was time to unwind in the onsen hot springs at Juhachiro, a ryokan inn that has been in business since 1860. Our rooms each had a private outdoor bath on the veranda that faced onto the Nagara River. It was wonderful to cool down from a dip in the bath by standing in the veranda’s night air and looking out onto the city lights dancing on the river surface and the stars hanging in the sky above. The ryokan also had several large communal baths. One of the baths, Kura-no-yu, is made out of a 130-year-old storehouse furnished with stained glass, reflecting the significance of storehouses in this trade center of Gifu. The bath draws water from Nagaragawa Onsen, which takes on a rusty tint due to its unusually high iron content.
This is where our Nagara River journey ended, tucked away in a ryokan in the quieter pocket of Gifu City, with crafts from all the way up the river like sharp little knives, glittery sheets of paper, a completely original wagasa umbrella, and a wax model of tempura displayed across the tatami floor as we packed. By tracing the path of the Nagara River over the past four days, we were delighted to find glimmers of Gujo, Mino, Seki, and Gifu intertwining with one another across each leg of the journey. The boons of the Nagara River and its living heritage of craftsmen and trade enrich the entire region, forging a distinct regional identity. Being a part of that cultural and historical legacy, even if only as beginner craftsmen for a few days, awarded us with a whole new look at life around one of Japan’s clearest rivers.
Nagara River Ukai Museum

Visit Gifu website: https://visitgifu.com/see-do/nagara-river-ukai-museum/

Cafe&gallery Kawaramachi-ya

Address: 28 Tamaicho, Gifu, 500-8008
Access: https://maps.app.goo.gl/p2yFYD568bEc5kha9
Phone number: 058-266-5144

Sumii Tomijiro Shoten (Mizu uchiwa fans)

Sumii Tomijiro Shoten (Mizu uchiwa fans)
Address: 46 Minatomachi, Gifu, 500-8009
Access: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ANWef9h67TVp5nzT6
Phone number: 058-264-4318

Wagasa CASA

Address: 6 Tamaicho, Gifu, 500-8008 Casa Stella
Phone number: 090-8335-9759

CASA Mini Umbrella Making Class:

Address: 29 Minatomachi, Gifu, 500-8009 Teshigoto Studio (inside Nagaragawa Teshigoto Machiya Casa)
Phone number: 058-269-3858
Access: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DfXpqZ12T2KAuFwq5

Gifu Castle

Visit Gifu website: https://visitgifu.com/see-do/gifu-castle/

The Gifu Great Buddha

Visit Gifu website: https://visitgifu.com/see-do/gifu-great-buddha-shoho-ji-temple/

Bunkaya

Address: 35 Motohamacho, Gifu, 500-8007
Access: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JTGMFekj8dtgyP5K7
Phone number: 058-212-0132

Juhachiro

Address: 10 Minatomachi, Gifu, 500-8009
Access: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6HG9PTPcQR8cKPEG8
Phone number: 058-265-1551