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GUJO HACHIMAN |
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It is a town of low, dark, wood-and-plaster buildings, paved lanes,
and running water. The windows of the buildings are narrow and slatted.
The lanes, too, are narrow, steeply walled, and end in dimly lanterned
eating places or in small stone bridges that arch over splashing streams.
It was like an Edo-era stage set
- Alan Booth Looking for the Lost , 1995
Long-distance walker Booth's romantic description of GUJO HACHIMAN still
applies: the place is as clean and inviting - with two pristine rivers
running through the centre - as any town you will find in the country,
and the castle and the dance, are well checking out. Tucked in a valley
on an old trade route which once led to the Sea of Japan, the town lies
north of Gifu, along the Nagara River and the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway.
At the foot of the hill, where the Yoshida River runs in a stone channel
through the centre of town, the tourist information centre (daily
9am-5pm; tel 0575/67-1819) can be found in a handsome Meiji-era Western-style
building. You can pick up maps and a simple guide to the area in English,
as well as admission to the six old houses and shops nearby, which are
maintained as historical and cultural museums (¥1200). Just outside the
tourist office is a bridge from which a diving contest is held each July,
when young men jump 7m into the roaring but clean and deep waters of the
Yoshida River below. Further upstream is a five-metre span from which
local children can sometimes be seen jumping; and up and down both of
the town's rivers, anglers, with long poles and tall straw hats can be
seen trying their luck for the ayu (sweetfish) and trout for which the
region is famous. You could also try seeking out the town's Fountain of
Youth (Sogisui), mentioned by Booth; it's a natural spring located down
a cul-de-sac that flows into two rectangular pools.
A good fifteen-minute climb up a steep hill in the centre of town
provides panoramic views of the valley from Gujo Hachiman Castle . This
very photogenic replica was built on the genuine stone foundations of
the less elaborate original structure; the castle was pulled down during
the Meiji Restoration and rebuilt in 1934. The enthusiastic gatekeeper
of the castle will be happy to take your photo with the panorama of the
town below, and will be sure to point out that the shape of the town
resembles that of a fish, which it really does, the elegant concrete
span of the new motorway accenting the tail.
Despite the appeal of the castle, the historic buildings and the
pristine river, the real reason to visit Gujo Hachiman is to take part
in the dance: Gujo Odori . Thousands of communities in Japan put on Bon
Odori festivals, but nowhere is the dance so firmly rooted in the life
of the community as at Gujo Hachiman. Here it goes on from mid-July to
early September, from about 8pm to 11pm in a different part of town most
nights - the tourist information centre can tell you exactly when and
where. At the height of the season, during the Obon holiday in mid-August,
dancing goes on all night and thousands of dancers and observers crowd
the town to take part. Bear in mind though that reservations are
impossible to get during Obon, and the real appeal of the Gujo Odori is
its casual everyday atmosphere.
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