Gifu after the cormorant boats: lattice lanes, a paper Buddha, and an old arcade

The boats come downriver in a slow line, each with an iron basket of burning pine hung off the bow, and for a few minutes the Nagara River (長良川, Nagaragawa) smells of resin and wet stone. Then they round the bend, the people on the bank fold their seats and drift back up the steps, and the street behind them, a narrow run of dark lattice houses called Kawaramachi, goes quiet again. Most visitors to Gifu see those ten minutes and catch the last train to Nagoya. The town that stays behind is the better reason to come.

Kawaramachi, the street the river built

Kawaramachi (川原町) runs parallel to the Nagara for a few hundred metres just upstream of Nagarabashi bridge (長良橋). Its houses were once wholesalers for timber and Mino paper floated down from the mountains, and the street keeps the merchant shape: narrow frontages, deep plots, and kōshi (格子), the vertical wooden lattice that lets a shopkeeper see out while the street sees little in. Walk it early and you hear shutters, a broom on stone, and the river behind the houses rather than in front of them.

Several old fronts now hold cafés and craft shops, and the crafts are local rather than imported for the occasion. Gifu wagasa (岐阜和傘), the oiled-paper umbrella, Gifu uchiwa (岐阜うちわ), flat fans on fine bamboo ribs, and Gifu chōchin (岐阜提灯), the painted lanterns families hang for Obon, were made in this city and still are, in smaller numbers. The lanes branching toward the hill turn residential quickly, with a small shrine gate set between two houses and stone lanterns dark with old soot. Keep your voice low there; these are front steps, not a set.

A Buddha made of bamboo and paper

Ten minutes' walk away, at the foot of Kinkazan, Shōhōji (正法寺) sits on a side lane that most ropeway traffic passes without turning. Inside is the Gifu Daibutsu (岐阜大仏), a seated Buddha roughly four storeys high whose body is neither bronze nor wood but a bamboo frame built up with clay and pasted sutra paper, then lacquered and gilded. People here call it a kago-daibutsu (籠大仏), a basket Buddha.

The effect is far more intimate than at the bronze giants of Nara or Kamakura. The hall is barely wider than the figure, so you stand almost at its knees while the face looks down from the dim upper room with half-closed, unhurried eyes. A modest admission is collected at a desk by the entrance, and the temple is the place to confirm it and the hours, which are shorter than you might expect. Photography rules are posted at the door; read them before raising a phone.

Kinkazan by trail rather than ropeway

Gifu Park (岐阜公園) at the mountain's base is where the bus drops you and where the Kinkazan Ropeway (金華山ロープウェー) lifts most visitors to Gifu Castle (岐阜城) on the summit. The castle is a postwar reconstruction, and the view from it, the Nagara bending west across the Nōbi Plain, is the real exhibit. Oda Nobunaga took this hill in the sixteenth century and gave the town its present name.

Walking up takes longer and gives you more. The Nanamagari trail (七曲り登山道) climbs through mixed forest in long switchbacks and suits anyone in sensible shoes; the Uma-no-se trail (馬の背登山道) goes straight up over rock and roots and is better left to steady knees and dry weather. Carry water, and check the ropeway's last descent before deciding to walk only one way.

Yanagase, an arcade in its long afternoon

Between the stations and the river, Yanagase (柳ケ瀬) is the city's old shopping and entertainment quarter, a grid of covered arcades that once drew crowds from across the prefecture and lent its name to the enka song 柳ケ瀬ブルース (Yanagase Burūsu). Many shutters are down now. That is part of what makes it worth an hour: the arcade has the light of a place built for more people than it holds, and the kimono dealers, tea merchants and photo studios that remain have had decades to settle in.

Gifu takes its coffee seriously, and the side streets keep a few kissaten (喫茶店) with wood panelling, padded booths and a counter where beans are ground to order. Order a blend and something from the short food list, a toasted sandwich or a slice of cheesecake, and take your time; a long sit is the normal pace here.

The cormorant boats, seen from the bank

Ukai (鵜飼), fishing with trained cormorants, is why most people know Gifu at all. After dark the boats drift down the Nagara with fire at the prow while the usho (鵜匠), the cormorant master in a grass skirt and dark headcloth, works a fan of leashed birds that dive for ayu (鮎), sweetfish. The Nagara usho hold a post under the Imperial Household Agency, and the work passes within families.

You can watch from a viewing boat, booked through the city's ukai office, or from the Kawaramachi bank near Nagarabashi, where people bring a folding seat and wait. The bank gives you less fire and more sound: a pole knocking the hull, the usho's call, the splash. The season runs roughly from late spring into autumn, the boats rest when the river runs high, and dates are set each year, so confirm them with the ukai office.

長良川の鵜飼は、火よりも先に、音で近づいてくる。

Eat ayu the same night if you can. Shioyaki (塩焼き), the whole fish skewered and grilled with salt, is eaten nearly whole, and ayu-zōsui (鮎雑炊), rice simmered in a broth from the fish, is the gentler dish that closes a meal.

Getting there, and the one booking to make early

From Nagoya Station (名古屋駅), the JR Tōkaidō Line reaches JR Gifu Station in well under half an hour on a rapid service, and the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line runs to Meitetsu Gifu, a short walk away; a Japan Rail Pass covers the JR route but not Meitetsu. From either station, Gifu Bus services run north along Nagara-bashi-dōri to the Nagarabashi and Gifu Kōen stops; check routes on the operator's site or the timetable at each stop.

Late spring and summer bring the boats, long light and heavy heat off the plain. Autumn gives the last weeks of ukai and clear air for the summit, and winter empties the town, which suits Kawaramachi and the Daibutsu hall. Stay one night so you can see the boats and still walk Kawaramachi before the shops open next morning. Hours for the temple, ropeway and castle change with the season, so check each the day before.

The mistake to avoid is treating the ukai as something to decide on that afternoon. In peak season viewing boats are often booked well ahead. Reserve through the ukai office once your dates are firm, or plan from the start to watch from the bank, and let the rest of the day be slow.