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Castle town of Lady Samurai & magnificent Ruins

Gifu Private Tour - A small local train brings travellers to the Iwamura town. You will enjoy viewing idyllic rural landscape through windows of the train.(see the video bellow)

A small local train brings travellers to the Iwamura town. You will enjoy viewing idyllic rural landscape through windows of the train.(see the video bellow)

A chatelaine character welcomes travellers at the ticket gate of the station.

Gifu Private Tour - You will find a name of each house’s proprietress printed on a short curtain under the eave, which reminds you of the female lord of the castle with her sad story...

You will find a name of each house’s proprietress printed on a short curtain under the eave, which reminds you of the female lord of the castle with her sad story...

Katsukawa House, which was one of the distinguished merchant’s houses, is open free for anyone to stroll around.

The Japanese garden of Katsukawa House shows you a simple and natural beauty based on Wabi and Sabi.

Gohei‒mochi, mashed rice grilled on skewers with unique sweet-salty sauce, whets the appetite of travelers.

A souvenir shop selling pretty beautiful handmade crafts

You can enjoy 30 minutes hiking to the ruins of the castle on the hill.

The six‒story stone wall of the ruins on the hill provides you with a magnificent landscape.

In the Hiroshige Museum of Art, visitors enjoy special exhibitions throughout the year like this.

Gifu Private Tour - Visitors can also have the experience of creating multicolored prints using imitation blocks, which is a very popular activity in the museum.

Visitors can also have the experience of creating multicolored prints using imitation blocks, which is a very popular activity in the museum.

Castle town of Lady Samurai & magnificent Ruins

Art, Culture, & Historical

Joined 2015

Tetsuji Y.

4.91 / 5

(58 reviews)

Identity Verified

Interview-Based Quality Checks

Gifu

Japanese (Native), English

9 hrs 30 mins

Private tour (only you and Tetsuji Y.)

Up to 6 people

A well‒preserved hidden castle town, Iwamura, makes you feel warped into Edo era. Strolling around old houses and shops along the tranquil street, you will reach the ruins of the castle on the hill. Photogenic townscapes reveal the quintessence of Japanese beauty with a tragic story of the chatelaine. You also visit Hiroshige Museum of Art that exhibits lots of Ukiyoe prints of Utagawa Hiroshige.

Itinerary

This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!

08:00 AM

Meeting Point

At your hotel in Nagoya or at the JR Nagoya station

08:00 AM

JR Nagoya station

08:40 AM

JR Ena station

You enjoy the most rural scenic view by local train (see video)

09:40 AM

Exploring authentic castle town

Iwamura town is a little away from the old highway Nakasendo which has contributed to preserving traditional townscape for long time. The castle town extends over one kilometer long from the station to the foot of the castle‒ruins.

11:40 AM

Hiking to the ruins of Iwamura Castle

The ruins of Iwamura Castle are located at the highest place (717m above sea level) for a castle in Japan and has been selected as one of three major mountain castles in Japan. You should try half an hour hiking up the slope to get fantastic views from the ruins. Some parts of the slope are steep, but most of them are well maintained and partly paved. A tragic story about what happened to a beautiful chatelaine makes you feel sympathy for transiency of human life.

01:00 PM

Lunch

You enjoy eating some local foods such as Gohei‒mochi, Udon noodles, Japanese pickles and a variety of sweets. Drinkers can enjoy tasting Sake with a quick excursion to the brewery. Almost all the shops are run by citizens of this town and staff members welcome visitors with their best smiles.

02:00 PM

Castle town

You enjoy strolling around the street, on both sides of which there are various shops, restaurants, shrines etc. Above all, you should drop into some of the old merchants’ houses such as Katsukawa House, Kimura House and Tosaya. All visitors are free to walk through traditionally designed rooms and beautiful Japanese gardens at will. You will be astounded at the unexpected expanse of living space of Japanese traditional buildings with exquisite design.

03:00 PM

Hiroshige Museum of Art

Hiroshige Museum of Art houses and exhibits approximately 1,400 Ukiyoe woodblock prints depicting the people and scenery along old highways, Nakasendo and Tokaido. Visitors can not only see them but also have the experience of creating multicolored prints using imitation wood blocks.

05:00 PM

JR Nagoya station

Ending Point

At JR Nagoya station

Want to personalize this tour?

This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.

Inclusions & Exclusions

What‘s included

guide fee and hotel pick-up

What‘s not included

Besides guide fee, you have to prepare about 7000yen/person for both you and guide on the tour day. The details are as follows:transportation fee about 5000yen/person, entrance fee about 1200yen/person,entrance fee about 800yen/person.However, if you you have Japan Rail Pass(JRP), it goes down 4000yen/person except for guide

Tour Important Information

(Iwamura Castle)

A one and a half hour local train ride from Nagoya brings you to the old castle town of Iwamura in southeast Gifu. On the way to the town, you will enjoy viewing very simple but calm Japanese rural landscape through the windows of the train (see the video above). Iwamura castle was established in 1185. It is famed for not only magnificent ruins of the castle called 'Asian Machu Pichu', but also the well‒preserved castle town which is listed as one of the Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings by the central government, like Takayama or Tsumago.

(Tragedy of Chatelaine)

At the end of 16th century,one of Iwamura Castle lords was a woman named Otsuya, who was warring‒time great hero Oda Nobunaga’s aunt. After her husband passed away early, she was reigning the territory by herself with a young adopted son. She was so bright and beautiful that many people liked her. When the town was attacked and under siege by overpowering enemies, she had to choose a political marriage with the opponent’s leader in order to protect her families and her people. Over the next few years, she spent peaceful days along with the new husband. However, she was crucified by her nephew Nobunaga as a traitor in the end. She was a lady Samurai struggling with hardships throughout her life altruistically. Now, blue Noren, shop-front curtains, with the names of proprietresses hang down from eaves. It is evidence that Otsuya is still loved and respected by the townspeople.

*If you are interested in hiking old highway Nakasendo, it is possible for you to walk a part of the route between Magome and Tsumago after visiting Iwamura town. In that case, you have to skip visitting both the ruins of the castle and Hiroshige Museum. Please feel free to ask to arrange the tour as you want.

Important message from the supplier

I can guide in Kyoto in case you support transportation fee.

Cancellation Policy

Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time

Joined 2015

Tetsuji Y.

4.91 / 5

(58 reviews)

Identity Verified

Interview-Based Quality Checks

About Tour Guide Tetsuji Y.

Hello everyone. I am Tetsuji. I worked as a public servant in the local government for 35 years. I belonged to the department of Redevelopment, Town-Landscaping, Preserving historical areas and Architectural Guidance. (I have a national 1st-class architect license.) I devoted myself to revitalizing the city by making plans and improving infrastructure for citizens.

Gifu is located in central Japan near Nagoya. As just being the crossroads of the West and the East, there are many unique attractions that are hard to discover in hectic big cities like Tokyo or Kyoto. I had a hand in restoring and preserving some of them throughout my career and want to introduce them to tourists from abroad. That’s why I became a guide-interpreter in Gifu.

I also enjoyed traveling around the world. My favorite part of each trip was walking around the city and talking with local residents. Traveling has taught me lots of things during my lifetime. Now, I would like to help others have similar experience in Japan. Shall we enjoy fantastic journey in Gifu?

Reviews

Pascal N.

5 / 5

Oct 29, 2025

Discover Authentic Japan in Tsumago & Magome, Nakasendo