Castle town of Lady Samurai & magnificent Ruins
Joined 2015
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!
Meeting Point
At your hotel in Nagoya or at the JR Nagoya station
JR Nagoya station
JR Ena station
You enjoy the most rural scenic view by local train (see video)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
guide fee and hotel pick-up
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
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
Rowena S.
“Great Experience”
Hello Tetsuji san, just wanna thank you for taking care of our guests, they had such a great experience during their tour. And it was also a smooth arrangement with you. Looking forward to work with you again in the future.
Sophie B.
“Very nice and flexible guide”
We planned months in advance a day with Tetsuji. When we arrived in Japan we realised it would be raining all day. We asked Tetsuji if he could propose an alternative because we were supposed to be outside all day. He came with a good back up plan. It was really appreciated. We have a nice day together and I would recammand it.
Tetsuji Y.
Thank you for your appreciation. I hope that you would come back to Japan again in order to hike Nakasendo with me under the blue sky. I will be waiting all of you. Please give my best regards to Martin, Pauline and Adrian.
Sherry W.
“The most wonderful day!”
Tetsuji-san the kindest, most thorough tour guide I think I have ever had the pleasure to know. His pre-trip questions and planning for a personal level of interest led to showcasing his wide range of knowledge for the Gifu area and more than completely fulfilling my requests for things to see. It was a day neither I nor my family will ever forget. Tetsuji-san knew where to go for the local beauty of the blooming cherry blossoms, introducing us to the Kagamigahara area away from the usual crush of visitors. There were many local festivals, the impressive Kinpozan Shoboji Temple with the beautifullly preserved indoor Buddha, the hilltop Gifu Castle via the tramway and steep steps that gave a fabulous view of the entire region, the heritage Minatomaci street that maintains the architectural history of the Endo (?) era ( but includes some wonderful shops with locally made artistic items, and more. Thank you so much, Tetsuji-san! ( my photos don’t seem to be loading up here… but you will have plenty to take on your own if you choose this wonder guide)
Tetsuji Y.
I appreciate that you gave me a chance to organize a fantastic tour. The moment you set a pebble on the corner of the site, I felt IKIGAI (生き甲斐) in my mind. I truly thought that I might have been born to share unforgettable moment with you. I surely think this 'Nostalgic tour' is an epoch-making commemorative event through my guiding career.
$112/ per group
More tours by Tetsuji Y.
Discover Authentic Japan in Tsumago & Magome, Nakasendo
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One-day-tour of Shirakawa-go
Shirakawa-go is a mountain settlement that is famous for uniquely designed Gassyo-style buildings and registered as one of the World Cultural Heritage sites. In Ogi-machi, over sixty Gassyo-style buildings will welcome visitors. Enjoying the whole landscape of the village from the hill, you will stroll around the village visiting some traditional Gasho-style buildings such as Wada House, Nagase House and Myozenji Temple Museum.
Best Choice for one-day Takayama tour
Takayama is a small city in a mountainous area. The tour includes some healing spots in addition to popular highlights like Miyagawa Morning Market, Higashiyama Walking, Old Town and Hida-Furukawa. I'm sure you’ll be able to see why Takayama mesmerizes tourists so much through this tour.
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Other Popular Art, Culture, & Historical Tours in Gifu
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Avant la randonnée à MAGOME-TSUMAGO, vous descendrez à OCHIAI pour l’auberge destinée aux samouraïs etc. restée telle quelle, le jardin fleuri d’un temple, entre des rizières en terrasses, le long de la rivière où vous pourrez apprécier le paysage nostalgique d’une estampe de l’époque Edo ainsi que la calligraphie, la cérémonie du thé dans le temple, la teinture à l’indigo. Ma présentation de l’histoire du NAKASENDO avec des épisodes marquants enrichira votre visite.
Art, culture et histoire sur la route de NAKASENSO (2) : Une journée à OCHIAI et MAGOME
Avant la randonnée à MAGOME-TSUMAGO, vous descendrez à OCHIAI pour l’auberge destinée aux samouraïs restée telle quelle, le jardin fleuri d’un temple, entre des rizières en terrasses ainsi que la teinture à l’indigo, le mini-concert de piano et de chants japonais, ensuite l’arrangement des fleurs, la façon de mettre un kimono, une séance de photos en kimono dans un temple à MAGOME. Ma présentation de l’histoire du NAKASENDO avec des épisodes marquants enrichira votre visite.
Walking tour in Gifu city
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