Gifu City 岐阜市, Gifu Prefecture

Gifu City (Japanese: 岐阜市) is the capital of Gifu Prefecture, in the Chubu Region of Honshu, Japan. It covers 203 sq km (78 sq mi) and has a population of 413,000 people (2012 estimate). The city is on the alluvial plain of the Nagara River. It is a center for agriculture and is also developing itself as a domestic tourist destination.

Human habitation in the Gifu City area can be traced to prehistorical times. There are burial mounds from the late-Yayoi period (300 BC to 300 AD). Its strategic location in central Japan made it an important site over which various clans fought. The Gifu region began to develop in the Sengoku period (15th to 17th century).

The modern city of Gifu was founded on 1 July, 1889. Two years after it was founded, the massive Mino-Owari Earthquake caused enormous damage to the Gifu, leading to it building the first Earthquake Memorial Hall in all of Japan.

Today Gifu has become a popular destination for Japanese tourists. Among the attractions here is cormorant fishing on the Nagara River, a tradition that goes back over a thousand years. The two main festivals celebrated in Gifu are Dosan Festival and Gifu Festival, both happening in April, the first on the first Saturday while the latter on the following Sunday.

View of Gifu City with the Gifu City Tower 43 and Gifu Sky Wing 37


Gifu Castle

Planning your trip to Gifu City

You can fly to Gifu City, arriving at the Chubu International Airport (NGO). From the airport, take the Meitetsu train to Meitetsu Gifu station. There are three trains per hour, and the fare is ¥1310 for an unreserved seat, or ¥1660 for a reserved seat. The journey takes about an hour.

You can also reach Gifu City by train. From Tokyo, take the Nozomi service of the Tokaido Shinkansen to Nagoya, the fare is about ¥11,000, journey taking about 2 ½ hours. From Nagoya, take the trains of the Tokaido Line to Gifu City, for ¥450, journey taking about 25 minutes. If coming from Kyoto or Osaka, take the Nozomi service in the other direction to Nagoya, fare at ¥6100, journey about an hour.

Akanabe-jinja Shrine in Gifu City, Japan

Places of Interest in Gifu City

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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