Cormorant fishing viewing on the Nagaragawa River
Joined 2015
Gifu Castle standing on the Mt.Kinka provides visitors with nice panoramic views day and night. You also enjoy watching a traditional unique event Cormorant Fishing on the Nagara River while eating dinner in a viewing boat. Sir Charlie Chaplin visited Gifu twice to enjoy this unique traditional event. Besides, a photogenic street Kawara-machi and the Great Buddha statue in Shoboji-temple move you so much.
Itinerary
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At JR Gifu Station
JR Gifu Station
After meeting, you move around the station-front area
Public tea house (Matcha-tea break) in Gifu park
Shobo-ji (Great Buddha)
In Shoboji temple, you see a golden Great Buddha statue which is one of the three most famous Buddha-statues in Japan.
Nagara River Ukai Museum
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.
Kawara-machi
Strolling around the old wooden building street, you enjoy dropping in unique souvenir shops, cafe and fancy restaurants.
Cormorant Fishing*(11 May to 15 October)
From May 11th to October 15th, you could enjoy cormorant fishing known as Ukai on the Nagara River at night. Cormorant fishing is a traditional fishing style that started over 1300 years ago. You can enjoy eating dinner on a viewing-boat on the river and see how the fishing-masters manipulate birds to catch sweetfish, Ayu. The ephemeral performance by the fishermen and birds will give you a small glimpse of the old days.
Night view from the castle *(the available date in 2024 is still unknown)
You enjoy a night tour to the castle via lift-ride and walk. The panorama view from the castle balcony is unforgettable.
JR Gifu station
Ending Point
At JR Gifu 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 pick-up in a hotel in central area of Gifu city
transportation fee for guide and guests
entrance fee for guests (Gifu CIty Museum:300yen, Shobo-ji:200yen, Nagaragawa Ukai Museum:500yen)
cormorant fishing boat fee for guide and guests (adult/child:3400/1700yen per person)
lunch,tea and dinner fee for guest and guide about 5000yen/person
Tour Important Information
(example itinerary A)
・JR Gifu Station(meeting point) 13:00
・Strolling around Station Front 13:00~13:30
・Public tea house(tea break) 13:40~14:20
・Shobo-ji(Great Buddha) 14:30~15:00
・Nagaragawa Ukai Museum 15:10~16:10
・Kawara-machi 16:30~17:30
・comorant fishing 18:00~20:30
・ night view from the castle 20:30~21:30
・JR Gifu Station 22:00
(example itinerary B)
・JR Gifu Station(meeting point) 10:30
・Gifu Castle 11:00~12:20
(lunch 12:20~13:20)
・Shobo-ji(Great Buddha) 13:20~13:50
・Public tea house(tea break) 14:00~14:30
・Nagaragawa Ukai Museum 15:00~16:00
・Kawara-machi 16:20~17:30
・comorant fishing 18:00~20:30
・JR Gifu Station 21:00
*an attached video shows a scene of cormorant fishing
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.
Tetsuji Y.
Thank you for a nice review to me. I am also looking forward to working with you again.
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.
$119/ per group
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