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8/19/2019 Gifu Prefecture Tourism and Event Newsletter, Vol 31:
Spring 2016
1/3ifu Crossroads Page 1 Spring 2016
Coming out of what has been one of the warmest winters in recent
memory, you would think thatpring would be arriving earlier than
usual this year, but surprisingly not so! While the sun might
be coming out to play more often, there is still a bit of a cold
breeze lingering throughout theprefecture.
Good thing that most of the fun doesn’t start until well
into the season! While the Takayama
Festival may be representative of spring in Gifu Prefecture,
there’s all sorts of things to be enjoyedall across the
prefecture, from the mountainous region of Hida in the north to the
expansive plainsof Mino in the south. Spring is a great time to
visit Japan, and you can be sure that includes Gifu!
Without a doubt one of the most explosive festivals in
thecountry, the Tejikara Fire Festival held at the Tejikara-oShrine
in Gifu City always draws impressive crowds. Thefestival floats are
all rigged with an amazing number of
fireworks, which they then parade about the venue andunderneath
a spout that is spitting embers from high abovethe venue. The
floats pass under these embers, and boom! Asea of half-naked men
carrying around festival floats spittingfire from the top. The fun
starts around 7 pm, but we suggestheading there a bit earlier to
make sure you get a good spot!
Tejikara-o Shrine is just a 5-minute walk from TejikaraStation
on the Kakamigahara Line leaving from MeitetsuGifu Station.
Tejikara Fire FestivalApril 9th
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8/19/2019 Gifu Prefecture Tourism and Event Newsletter, Vol 31:
Spring 2016
2/3ifu Crossroads Page 2 Spring 2016
There are two figures from Japanese history commonlyassociated
with Gifu City: Oda Nobunaga, the feudalwarlord who made Gifu his
stronghold in his quest to unifyhe country, and Dosan Saito, who
ruled the area before
Nobunaga and is largely responsible for the founding ofGifu
City. The most striking part of the festival happens atnight, when
large festival floats decorated with lanterns goon parade near
Inaba Shrine, at the foot of Mt. Kinka.
A great many events happen over the course of this
two-dayestival, but the parade in downtown Gifu and the
nighttimeestivities by Inaba Shrine happen only on the Saturday.
Just
a 5-to-15-minute walk from the Meitetsu or JR Gifu Stations.
Perhaps Gifu’s longest-standing tradition, the practice
ofcormorant fishing on the Nagara River in Gifu City (and alsoon a
smaller scale in Seki City) has remained largelyunchanged for the
past 1,300 years. Every night from May toOctober (except for nights
of the full moon or inclementweather), cormorant fishing masters
use their cormorants tocatch a Japanese sweet fish called ayu by
torchlight. Visitorscan hop on viewing boats that ride alongside
the cormorantfishing boats, allowing them to watch as the
cormorant
masters and their cormorants perform their craft on the
river.
Cormorant fishing can be seen in Gifu City, just a 15-minutebus
or taxi ride from Gifu Station.
The city of Mino is very proud of its paper-makingtradition
– and rightfully so! The techniques used in thecreation of
Mino Washi paper were designated anIntangible Cultural
Heritage by UNESCO in late 2014,and the culture surrounding the
practice is still verymuch alive. The old streets of Mino City take
on a newatmosphere during the two days of the festival, with
excitement in the air as citizens parade massive pinkfloats made
of the town’s famous Mino Washi paperabout town on the
first day of the festival. The secondday features another exciting
parade of festival floats(ones not made of Mino Washi paper
this time), andlocals perform comedic skits on the evenings of
bothdays!
The festival is just a 10-minute walk from Mino-shiStation on
the Nagaragawa Railway.
Cormorant FishingMay 11th – October 15th
Mino FestivalApril 9th and 10th
Dosan FestivalApril 2nd and 3rd
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8/19/2019 Gifu Prefecture Tourism and Event Newsletter, Vol 31:
Spring 2016
3/3ifu Crossroads Page 3 Spring 2016
The Takayama Festival is perhaps Gifu’s most
well-knownevent – and definitely its most crowded. Swarms of
peoplerom within Japan and from abroad flock to Takayama to seehis
festival, which is thought to be one of the three most
beautiful in Japan. A large part of its charm comes from
itsornate festival floats (23 in all), which are a testament to
theemarkable artisanal prowess of the wood and metal
workers of the area. Each of the floats belongs to a
different
neighborhood, and the craftsmen of each area would pourheart and
soul into creating them. The detail that can beenjoyed when seen up
close can only be described asexquisite. Another highlight are the
karakuri marionetteperformances that are performed atop
certain floats, and thenight festival where the floats are adorned
with hundreds ofglowing lanterns.
The Takayama Festival happens twice a year, once in springand
once in fall, and are held in different parts of towneaturing
different sets of floats. Both, however, are just ahort walk (10
minutes or so) from JR Takayama Station!
Not far from the city of Takayama is the town of HidaFurukawa,
which is remarkable for the sheer quantityof unique festivals it
has over the course of the year.Among them, there can be no doubt
that the FurukawaFestival is the most electrifying. Groups of men
half-clad in loincloths vie for dominance as they all rush
towards the okoshi-daiko, the large drum that is theheart of the
festival. Holding their own smaller drumtied to a long stick
(called a tsuke-daiko), these groupstry to keep their drum as close
to the okoshi-daiko aspossible while being driven away by
other groups thatare trying to do the same thing.
There are other events, such as parades of floats andportable
shrines, across the two days, but the mainevent (the okoshi-daiko)
can only be seen on the night of
the 19th
. Just a short walk from JR Furukawa Station!
ublisher:
urism Promotion Division,urism Exchange Promotion Bureau Tel:
+81-058-272-1111 (Ext.2356)
epartment of Commerce, Labor and Industry Fax:
+81-058-278-2674fu Prefectural Government Email:
[email protected] Yabuta-minami, Gifu City, GIFU 500-8570
gifucrossroads.wordpress.com
Furukawa FestivalApril 19th and 20th
Takayama FestivalApril 14th and 15th
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]
