Evening on the Nagara River: Cormorant Fishing
Between May 11th and October 15th, Gifu offers something no other place in Japan can claim: a 1300-year unbroken tradition of ukai, or cormorant fishing. Watch from a tour boat departing around 18:00 to 19:00, or stand on the riverbanks upstream from Nagara-bashi. The fishing begins after dark, around 20:00 (later during summer months), and ends by 21:00—timing that lets day-trippers catch a train back to Nagoya. The spectacle involves trained cormorants diving to catch fish in the Nagara River, their movements illuminated against the night. Charlie Chaplin requested stops in Gifu specifically to witness this event on two separate visits to Japan.
Bars and Meeting Points for Evening Drinking
Gifu's drinking culture centers on a few reliable gathering places. Bier Hall, located near Gifu Meitetsu station, functions as the city's main meeting spot for both foreigners and Japanese visitors. The owner is famously friendly and has a remarkable memory for faces—return once and you'll be greeted like a regular. The bar also hosts a book exchange corner if you need to swap reading material, and the Gifu knit club meets here Tuesday evenings in winter. Up a flight of stairs directly above Bier Hall sits Scrum, a smaller rugby-themed bar with an owner passionate about New Zealand. The space has imported beers and a pool table.
Bar Leon, located kitty-corner from the northeast corner of Yanagase on Kanda-machi street, draws a diverse crowd of Japanese and foreign patrons. Beyond alcohol, it hosts live music and dancing, and serves food including roasted chicken prepared Brazilian-style with a spicy milky sauce (at half price on Mondays). B's Cafe in Yanagase Shopping Mall caters to young Japanese and a few foreigners, with reasonable drinks at ¥500 and no cover charge on the first Thursday of each month. The bar frequently hosts launch parties for emerging Japanese musicians.
Gifu Park and Mount Kinka by Day
The city's principal landmark rises immediately adjacent to Gifu Park. Mount Kinka, a 329-meter peak, can be reached by ropeway (¥1050 round-trip, ¥520 for children) or by hiking one of several trails through the forest. The mountain holds Gifu Castle, a museum (¥200), and a squirrel park (¥200). Hikers can choose between the shorter, steeper hyaku-magari (100-bend) trail taking over an hour, the longer and gentler nana-magari (7-bend) route, the easier meiso no komichi trail with some steep sections, or the direct and more demanding uma no se (horseback) trail. From the top, you see views of the Nagara River and the city below. Within Gifu Park itself stands the Public Tea Ceremony House (華松軒), where you can drink tea while overlooking the park's year-round scenery.
Nagara River Fireworks Festival
On the last Saturday of July and the first Saturday of August, the Nagara River Fireworks Festival transforms the banks of the river. Two rival local newspapers—the Chunichi Shinbun and the Gifu Shinbun—each sponsor spectacular fireworks displays beginning at 19:00, competing to out-do one another against the backdrop of Mount Kinka. The displays run approximately 90 minutes. Festival food stalls line the upper banks, and many visitors wear yukatas. You can watch from seats, or if these are full, the bridge provides good standing vantage points (wear comfortable shoes). Special buses depart Meitetsu Gifu and JR Gifu Stations from 16:30 onwards. On the return trip, the buses become very crowded; a 40-minute walk back to the city centre is often easier.
Start planning your evening in Gifu by checking train schedules to Nagara-bashi for ukai season, or mark your calendar for the fireworks festival in July or August. The city rewards visitors who linger into the night.