Gujo Hachiman English Map
Lovingly translated by Mr. Thakur himself.
A lovely venue for a quiet weekend of Japanese cultural basking, Hachiman's countless small surprises and old-timey brilliance more than make up for what it lacks in exciting entertainment opportunities.
So what do I, the sole JET resident of Hachiman, recommend? Take a look at the crudely hijacked Gujo Hachiman English Map to get an overview of what's hot in Hachiman.
A good place to start is probably the tourist centre Kinenkan. This is next to Shinbashi (the new bridge) and at the eastern end of the main street of Hachiman. Here you can find inferior English language guide maps, information on local events, a small cafe, lots of omitagase gifts and Gujo Dance CDs. Around Obon Dance festival time (late July / August / early-September) there are dance classes here too. You can rent bikes (though this is slightly overpriced), and there are car parks in front and behind the centre. Next to the car park you can find a rather pricey Italian restaurant, down a little path, as well as small streets which function as a nursery for koi and other fishies.
We're famous up here for having clean water. You can see and hear little streams, channels and waterfalls burbling all through the town, some of which are kept clean by resident koi. This also means that Hachiman's sake, miso, soy and lots of other traditional Japanese foodstuffs are full of greatness. You can find lots of shops selling local produce all over town.
You will find a famous sample (plastic food) shop on a corner near Mitagase Bridge. Here you can buy perversely convincing sample key rings, fridge magnets, mobile phone danglies and so on. For a small fee, you can even try making your own sample tempura if you so wish. Cross the bridge and walk right up the hill to find a cheap sandal shop, a giant omiyage centre, and a Japanese sweet shop.
Back on Honmachi (just east of Mizunokomichi) you can find a country meat shop that sells wild boar, deer, and bear meat, commonly used in nabe. What a find!
There are also plenty of beautiful but useless small gifts you can buy in various shops in the main part of town.
There are so many nice little cafes in Hachiman. Again, these are found mainly on the main street of the town, running in front of the tourist centre in the direction of the station (Honmachi). Particularly I recommend Cafe Tirol, which is distinguished by having rather good homemade coffee blends. At the front of the shop you can see their giant coffee bean grinding machine. You can buy the 4 types of ground coffee or beans too, and the lady who runs the cafe loves gaijin. In the summer, Bar Gen and adjacent cafe can be found next to the river near Miyagase Bridge. It's open air, sells a few different snacks and icecreams, and has a nice atmosphere.
For nightlife, three main options present themselves. The first is the aforementioned Bar Gen, next to the river and Miyagase Bridge. This open-air bar has a rather good atmosphere in the summer. The second is Mizuchaya, near the post office on the main road of town and distinguished by its blue lights. There's extra seating upstairs, and the bar has an absolutely enormous cocktail menu, which is fortuitously combined with a skilled bar man. Last time I went here I met a drunk bank manager from the UK upstairs --it was rather surreal. The last option is further down the main road. If you walk away from the tourist centre end and towards the train station, you will see a strange Alice-in-Wonderland-esque house on your right. Enter and ascend the stairs to find a rather pricey, but nicely done up, bar with a variety of cocktails. There's also a selection of eateries, snack bars and watering holes at this end of town.
For restaurants, look up lovely beef and local produce restaurant Izumizaka on the road between Shinbashi and Miyagase bridge, north of the river. Here you can sample Hida beef, houbamiso (miso and veggies serves on a leaf over a griddle) and a number of other Gujo dishes. Prices are reasonable, but expect to pay a premium for Hida beef. No English menu, unfortunately, but the staff are very friendly and you can see what's on sale that day on the counter. More seating is available at the back of the restaurant.
On the corner of Shinbashi is Shinbashitei. This restaurant is in a prime position just across from the tourist centre. It's a sound place to try some local goodness, with various set meals including boar-hotpot and that miso in a leaf thing. Plus there's an English menu inside, and the option of washitsu or normal-style seating. Tends to get a bit busy in summertime.
For a Diner & Pizzeria, you need to walk over Shinbashi and right, heading northeast of the tourist centre, to the crossroads, and across the street: you can't miss it. Their evening specialty is pizza, and in the morning they offer the widest selection of the most reasonably priced morning sets I have as yet encountered in Japan.
There's two Italian restaurants in downtown Hachiman. The first is round the back of the tourist centre, and generally smells good. The second (Akagaki) is north-east of the tourist centre, 15 minutes walk along the road to Meiho. Akagaki's chef in residence used to work for a swanky Tokyo Hotel, and you can get lots of nice Italian stuff here which is hard to find in Japan, like buffalo mozzarella and venison carpaccio. Recommended is the makase special selection of whatever is good that day.
Then there's arguably the best eatery in town, called Marumitsu (near Mizunokomichi). It's a simple place, but it sells a bunch of Japanese staples (yakisoba, yakiudon, donburi, okonomiyaki, katsukare, all available as part of a meal) to very high standard at very reasonable prices. There's a washitsu with cool kotatsuage for wintertime, oden tank, a resident cat and mini-Japanese garden inside. And they also sell these pancake/donut things with various fillings from the front of the store. Note the comical abrasiveness and filthy Gujo dialect of the obaachan owner.
For cultural stuff, my favourite spots would be Hachiman Castle and Jionji Temple. The ascent to the castle begins near Jokamachi plaza, and takes you past a giant wooden temple. It takes about 15 minutes if you walk slowly, though I don't recommend it on a muddy day. The view from the top can be quite beautiful on a clear day, or even on a cloudy day, because of the drama of the mountains. The castle itself is a small affair, but it's actually made of wood, unlike Gifu castle. If you take a wrong turn out of the carpark, you might end up on a walking trail which winds down the mountain to Gujo High School. Nice place for a picnic.
By far my favourite cultural site is Jionji temple, south of the Kinenkan. The temple is fairly beautiful just because of the building, but the main attraction is a lovely little Zen garden (with plants mind, not just gravel) tucked away inside the temple. There's an open room from which you can appreciate the brilliance. The best part is that unlike other more famous Zen places (like the ones in Kyoto), Jionji is almost never busy, so it actually feels peaceful and Zenny, not tourist-rammed and horrible. Don't miss the mysterious upturned pot making splashing noises on your way out of the garden --I know it doesn't sound great, but it really does have a weird effect. I really, really recommend this lovely little temple. The monk that lives there speaks quite good English too. There's a few other temples on the same street as Jionji.
To get to Hachiman, the easiest way is the highway bus which leaves from the Gifu Meitetsu Bus station. This bus has stops on the way in Mino, Seki, and a few other places: you can actually travel all the way up to Shirakawago on this route. There's normally about one bus every hour, but check the timetable, available from Gifu Meitetsu bus station, carefully because it's riddled with inexplicable two-hour gaps. The last bus from Gifu in the evening is at 8:40 every day, and it takes about an hour and twenty minutes to arrive. There are a bunch of stops in town, but the one you should probably aim for is Jokamachi Plaza, which is fairly central, and near to the tourist centre. It's a pleasant journey. There are also slower local buses from Gifu Meitetsu, which take a maddeningly laid back and juddery route through various places before reaching Hachiman a bit over 2 hours later. Once in Hachiman, the same bus timetable you can get from Gifu Meitetsu bus station for Gujo times also has times for Meiho busses, which you can use to reach this adjacent town, famous for snowboarding and ham.
If you come here off the highway, you'll be approaching the town from the west.
Your last option is to take the Nagaragawa Tetsudo Light Railway, which starts in Minoota and winds through Seki, Mino, and a bunch of other obscure places to stop in Hachiman before it winds north to Shirotori. This also takes about an hour and 20 minutes (though it feels much longer than the bus), and there's some pretty nice scenery on the way. If you've had the good fortune to see the movie "Nagai Sanpo" (A Long Walk), you might recognise many of the details on this trail. It's the story of a retired principal taking the little girl who lives next to him (who is being abused by her parents) under his wing. They come to this part of Gujo to spiritually rebuild themselves. Hopefully it will have the same effect on you.
For more information, see the town website (it's in English --phew!): www.gujohachiman.com/kanko/index_e.htm
Sougi Sui--Sougi Spring
Called Sougi Sui because the poet Sougi used it habitually. It is one of a selection of 100 famous springs in Japan. It's very refreshing. Why don't you try drinking the water? Drink from the top basin using the wooden water-scoop.
Sample Food
The plastic food you see in restaurant windows everywhere was invented in Hachiman! There are two sample shops in the center of town where you can buy key chains, mobile phone straps, etc. At the one near Miyagase Bridge you can experience making samples. For ¥100, you can make three tempura samples. It takes about 30-50 minutes. On weekdays you will need to reserve by phone (0575-67-1870), but on weekends and holidays you can reserve at the building.
Gujo Odori
Gujo Odori is one of the three most important traditional dances in Japan. You can join and dance easily. It was started 400 years ago by Endo Yoshitaka, the lord of Hachiman castle, to encourage the people of Gujo.
Dancing lasts from mid-July until the first weekend in September. There are 10 traditional dances --the most famous is called Kawasaki, and others are Harukoma, Gengen Barabara, and so on.
The most exciting time is the 4 nights, August 13th-16th, of Obon Festival (Japanese Halloween). On those nights, people dance until about 5 o'clock in the morning when the sun rises.
You can take dance lessons at the Gujo Hachiman Kinenkan Tourist Center and the Complete Museum during Odori season. On September 1st, a disguise contest is held, where people wear funny costumes.
Fish Lane
There is a small stream running west of the Kinenkan centre. Here you can find a lot of carp. You can feed them for ¥100. It's very interesting --you can't miss it! This place is very beautiful and very mysterious, especially in the evening. You had better go in evening than in morning. This place will make you happy.
Hachiman Castle
There is a wonderful castle in Hachiman. It was first built in 1559 by Endo Morikazu. There are a lot of old things he used in the castle. Please drop in by all means. Entry is ¥300.
Jionji Temple
Jionji is a famous Zen temple. It has a beautiful indoor garden. Not many people come to Jionji, so come here if you want to feel peaceful. It costs ¥300.
For Gourmets...
For traditional Gujo food, try Izumisaka and Shinbashitei (食 on the road running between Shinbashi and Miyagase Bridge, north of the river). Shinbashitei has an English menu. Their meal sets cost around ¥2000. This road also has ramen and sushi shops.
Mizunokomichi has three gourmet 食 near it. Marumitsu diner is to the west on Honmachi, and sells great value meal sets to high standard. The small ice cream shop to the south sells Gujo Ice Cream in interesting flavours. Cafe Tirol to the east has a great atmosphere and sells their own coffee blends and some cafe food.
Next to the river near Mitagase bridge is the open air Bar Gen and the cafe next door --great places to chill out in the evening or daytime.
For true gourmets, there are also three well-hidden Italian restaurants in Hachiman and a pizza place. Italian 1 is behind the Kinenkan tourist centre and is slightly higher priced. Italian 2 is on the road running east to Meiho and is called Akagaki. Italian 3, Colom Baccio, is north of town near the police station. The pizza place is the 食 south of Gujo High School, below the castle.
Brought to you by the late Mr. Thakur, Gujo-Hachiman ALT Emeritus.
Not "late" as in dead,
just "late" as in dearly departed.
And not "dearly departed" as in dead,
just "dearly departed" as in plain old departed, but dear.
