Visiting two distinctive castle towns make you more familiar with the soul of Japan. One is Inuyama where visitors can see and touch two national treasures, Inuyama Castle and tea-house Joan. The other one is Gifu where a modernized castle stands on the mountain and a golden Great Buddha-statue make visitors sigh in admiration.
At JR Gifu station , At Meitetsu Inuyama Yuen station or At Nagoya station
Inuyama Castle which is said to be the oldest castle in Japan. You can touch and feel the authentic wooden Japanese castle, climbing steep and narrow steps toward the upper floor. On each floor, you will see some antiques, maps and documents to learn stories about the castle. From the top, you will have a panoramic view while strolling along the outside balcony.
A national treasure 'Ttea-house Joan’ is located in a beautiful Japanese garden near the castle, You find a simple aesthetic value based on Zen Buddhism in it. You can also drink matcha-tea in an adjacent tea-house in the same garden. Once, matcha-tea tasting gave samurai a moment of relief between battles. You might feeling there.
After lunch, you move to Gifu city and go up to Gifu Castle standing on Mt Kinka (329m) by ropeway, where you have a nice view and enjoy seeing many antiques, pictures and documents. You can also enjoy feeding squirrels near the ropeway terminal if you want.
In Shoboji temple, you see a golden Great Buddha statue which is one of the three most famous Buddha-statues in Japan.
In the Nagaragawa Ukai Museum, you learn everything about cormorant fishing. You can also visit one of the fishing master's cafe 'U-no-Iori U' where you can see and come close to cormorants while drinking coffee.
Strolling around the old wooden building street, you enjoy dropping in unique souvenir shops, cafe and fancy restaurants.
At JR Gifu station
guide fee
transportation fee for you and guide, It totally costs about 3000yen/person)
entrance fee for you, It totally costs about 2200yen/person)
lunch fee for you and guide
I can guide in Kyoto in case you support transportation fee.
“Very enjoyable visit to Shirakawago”
Tetsuji was very professional and we had a great time!
Richard Z.
Monet's Pond, Knife‒city Seki & Washi‒hometown Mino
“Detailed plan with flexibility, strong local knowledge”
Due to the bad weather, Tetsuji offered alternative to Monet's pond with Inuyama Castle. The change worked out well. The eel lunch in Seki was very good again. Perfect recommendation that only local knows. The old town of Mino and washi paper arts are memorable. Seki was the town for sword making. Traveling 3 cities with local trains within one day needs detail local knowledge. Tetsuji worked out detail plan, also with flexibility due to the weather change. I would recommend Tetsuji for non Japanese speakers want to visit local towns. That will make the trip much easier.
Tetsuji Y.
(33 reviews)Thank you for a superb review full of praise of my job. Now, I have got emotional with so much detailed nice words for me. I feel extremely honored to have worked as a guide for a lovely intelligent couple for two days in a row. I enjoyed myself not only guiding but also talking with you and Jane. I really hope you visit Japan and chat with me again. Please give my best regard to Jane.
“Well planned tour with many details”
Tetsuji guided us to Shirakawa-go. The tour was great. Starting from Gifu with train ride to Takayam, the train ride is a tour itself. The view was so beautiful that making the train ride was enjoyable. Right after arrived Shirakawa-go, Tetsuji put our name for a very good restaurant that serves hida beef. The lunch was perfect. Tetsuji was very detail person. Every detail is planned. All the activities that Tetsuji planned have their meanings, which we can feel it. And, Tetsuji took so many pictures of us. I believe those pictures will help us to reminding us about this trip. I would recommend Tetsuji to anyone that come to Shirakawa-go for the first time.
Tetsuji Y.
(33 reviews)Thank you for a superb review full of praise of my job. Now, I have got emotional with so much detailed nice words for me. I feel extremely honored to have worked as a guide for a lovely intelligent couple for two days in a row. I enjoyed myself not only guiding but also talking with you and Jane. I really hope you visit Japan and chat with me again. Please give my best regard to Jane.