Gujo Hachiman town walk　郡上八幡

October 2017,
D. complains that Ikeda Onsen michi no eki was noisy. The local kids dashing about in their cars but, I confess, I slept like a baby. The morning is damp not actually raining or a least not very much.

The michi no eki has several shops selling cakes, soft creams, oysters, fish on sticks and other miscellaneous merchandise. It also has a foot bath, electric bicycles for rental and a reasonable view over somewhere. There are decorative pot plants in the toilets which is always a good sign.

Gujo Hachiman　　郡上八幡

Today we are bound for Gujo Hachiman, a drive that takes us initially through a flat unimpressive landscape until we reach Gifu city. From there the countryside becomes more interesting following a river into the mountains.

Gujo Hachiman is an interesting place with a castle perched high above and a very fine river gushing through. There are narrow streets and old buildings and a few, well-preserved Meiji era remnants plus strange narrow alleyways. All with a background sound of rushing water as there are streams and sluices everywhere some filled with enormous carp.

A this point a Japanese gentleman approaches me “Japanese joke” he announces – pointing to the large fish – “Sukoi”- he says. “Sugoi” here could be translated as” Amazing”. “Koi” translated as “carp”. Oh, how we laughed.

Gujo Hachiman is a small town in Gifu pref. worth a visit.

In the summer they hold a festival where they dance in the streets for 33 days. Especially at Obon they dance for 4 days and 3 nights.

From Gujo Hachiman we follow Pref. R.73 – R. 472 the Seseragi Kaido to towards Takayama. This is a great road to drive as it winds through beautiful woods rising into the mountains. On the outskirts of Takayama we take R. 41 towards Toyama. This is a difficult route to find as it appears you are entering the highway but, happily, this is an illusion. Once on our road, we soon find the Alp Hida-Furukawa michi no eki on R.472. Nothing to note, except the rain, as we arrive just after dusk.