Gifu – Anne Goes to Places

It’s the continuation of the Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei (聖地巡礼 – anime pilgrimage) in Gifu Prefecture – but this time in the town of Hida-Furukawa.

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

Just in the area of HIDA-FURUKAWA STATION, I was already able to capture 3 shots similar to Kimi no Na wa frames:

No train was passing by at the time though…

Then from the train station, it was a 5-minute walk to HIDA CITY LIBRARY. I showed an image of the Kimi no Na wa poster to one of the librarians and she gave me an ID pass. Picture taking was not allowed and complete silence must be observed. Not surprising though that the area for Kimi no Na wa fan dedication was already gone during this visit as it has been 2 years already since it premiered.

Next stop was SAKURA BUSSANKAN/GIFT SHOP where they sell various Kimi no Na wa souvenirs such as the container similar to kuchikamizake and Taki’s bracelet. They also offer a 30-minute kumihimo braiding lesson so that you can craft your own bracelet. Fee ranges from ¥500 to ¥1,500, depending on the type of bracelet. I wanted to try it but I was too shy to ask. 😦

Kuchikamizake (but cleanly processed and prepared!)

Since there was nothing to do anymore and there was still more than 2 hours before the train back to Nagoya, I decided to go to one of the recommended GOHEI MOCHI places in the tourist map. Gohei mochi is a sticky white rice cake coated in miso sauce and has this grilled/smoky taste. It is a featured snack in Kimi no Na wa as seen in this frame with Taki, Tsukasa, and Okudera:

Apparently, gohei mochi is a popular snack in the region because I saw lots of stalls offering this in the other areas I visited in Chubu region. Didn’t enjoy this so much though… After an hour, it was time to go to KETA WAKAMIYA SHRINE, the last stop in this Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei. It was about a 30-minute walk and I didn’t see any mode of public transpo in the area.

These kids were walking in the same direction and I got surprised when they turned around to say “konnichiwa!”. So kawaii!

Still had about an hour left before the train arrives so it was a deliberately slow walk to take in all the sights of this small town before I leave.

Good thing there was a waiting area in the train station because by the time I got there, the temperature was already 5C. There were also vendo machines which had hot tea so I was saved.

Back in Nagoya Station, dinner was supposed to be in a mazesoba restaurant because they had gyoza but the line was still long even if it was already past 9PM. Settled for this restaurant which serves oyakodon, one of the famous Nagoya-meshi. I got this set which had oyakodon + soup + kushikatsu with miso sauce. I also ordered my favorite Japan alcoholic drink – chu-hi. I chose the yuzu flavor since I hadn’t tried it yet.

Everything was yummy and the serving size for oyakodon was big that I had to force myself to finish it. I am not sure if I understood it correctly that the restaurant uses Nagoya cochin for their chicken dishes – a premium chicken breed which has a flavorful meat than the usual.

Before heading back to the hotel, we passed by Club Sega and I saw one of the UFO machines containing Nyanko-sensei pillows (from Natsume Yuujinchou). Ugh, if only I had good skills or at least a really good luck.

Anyway, that’s it for Gifu prefecture and the Kimi no Na wa pilgrimage. Kyoto adventure will be up next!

It has been more than a year since my last Japan trip and this year, I chose Nagoya as the point of entry/exit. This year’s Japan adventures were even made more special by the fact that this is my first ever autumn experience.

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

For the first day of my one-week trip, it was dedicated to doing the Kimi no Na wa seichi junrei (聖地巡礼 – anime pilgrimage) in Gifu Prefecture.

First stop was Takayama and from Nagoya Station, the train ride (reserved seating) was almost 2 hours. Plenty of time to catch some sleep especially since I was still tired from the plane ride. I slept during the early part of the ride so when I woke up, I was not surprised to see trees and mountains everywhere – a sign that TAKAYAMA STATION is somewhat near!

When we reached the station, we were greeted by enthusiastic locals and activities: 1) free wet wipes handed out for free (with image of Takayama in front); 2) free ocha upon exiting the station; 3) traditional dragon dance with mostly kids as dancers.

After watching the performance, we walked towards the first destination of this seichi junrei. It was good that the temperature that day was about 8C so walking outside was bearable…

Enjoying ashiyu (foot bath) on a cold autumn day

We eventually reached HIDA-SANNOGU HIE-JINJA after 15 minutes of walking.

A short walk from the first torii led us to this torii, which was used as a reference in one of the frames in Kimi no Na wa.

The main shrine proper was not big so it only took us a short time to go around. One sight inside that was difficult to miss was the Great Cedar of Hie Shrine, standing tall at 39m. This tree is assumed to be more than 1,000 years old already.

Since we didn’t eat breakfast and it was around 12PM already, we walked to KIHACHIRO BEEF BUN for lunch. I read online that this shop’s beef bun was regarded as #1 in Rakuten as it is famous for being made with Hida beef and Takayama vegetables. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to try it.

After one big bite — 10x better than siopao!

Not far from Kihachiro was KIBUN-YA, a stall that sells gyu-takoyaki – made from Hida beef instead of the usual octopus. Unfortunately, it was closed during this day (Wednesday).

But I guess that was a blessing in disguise because we were able to catch the 1PM train to Hida-Furukawa. The station master told us that the next train after that was past 3PM. Yikes.

And that’s it for the seichi junrei in Takayama. Next post will be the continuation, but this time in the small but lovely town of Hida-Furukawa.

Tag: Gifu

Japan, Day 1: Hida-Furukawa

Japan, Day 1: Takayama