Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, and Natural Monuments of Gifu

Five mountain forts ringing the Furukawa Basin in Gifu, designated a national historic site in 2024 for layered work by the Anekoji, Miki, and Kanamori clans.

Discover the Ema Clan Castle Ruins in Hida City, Gifu — a National Historic Site featuring a restored samurai residence, medieval Japanese garden, and a network of mountain castles from the Muromachi and Sengoku periods.

The Kanō Castle Ruins in Gifu City preserve a flatland castle commissioned by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara as a stronghold against western powers. Designated a National Historic Site in 1983, the surviving honmaru with its distinctive convex 'demasugata' enclosure is recognized as the prototype of the early Edo-period 'Kanō-style' plan. Stone walls, earthen ramparts, and moat traces remain remarkably intact, offering visitors a tangible link to the strategic vision of the early Tokugawa shogunate.

The Great Cedar of Kabuchi Shrine, growing within the precincts of Kabuchi Shrine in Hichiso Town, Gifu Prefecture, is an awe-inspiring Japanese cedar estimated at around 850 years old, with a trunk circumference of 10 meters and a height of approximately 43 meters. Designated a National Natural Monument in 1930, this resilient giant survived a devastating debris flow in 1910 and continues to thrive at the foot of sacred Mt. Mihagi, inviting visitors into a world steeped in myth, history, and the quiet power of nature.

Tucked into the eastern foothills of Mount Ikeda in Gifu Prefecture, Kamagatani is a designated National Place of Scenic Beauty and Natural Monument where roughly 1,500 to 2,000 cherry trees of multiple species bloom along a two-kilometer ravine each spring. Viewed from afar, the cascading petals appear as a soft pink mist drifting down the mountain — the very phenomenon that gave this hidden sanctuary its evocative name.

Discover Garyū no Sakura in Takayama, Gifu — a National Natural Monument said to be over 1,100 years old, whose sprawling branches resemble a reclining dragon and burst into pale-pink Edohigan blossoms each April.

Rising behind the main hall of Kuzu Hachimangu Shrine in the mountain town of Hagiwara, Gero City, Gifu Prefecture, the Husband-and-Wife Cedars (Meoto-sugi) are a paired male-and-female giant of approximately 1,200 to 1,500 years of age. The Male Cedar measures 10.7 m around at chest height and stands about 25 m tall, while the Female Cedar measures about 8.9 m around and rises 24.7 m. Designated a National Natural Monument in 1928, these twin trees stand alongside the shrine's nationally important medieval main hall and worship hall as living witnesses to over a millennium of Hida history.

Set on a quiet hilltop in Ena, Gifu Prefecture, the ruins of Shoge Haiji preserve the foundations of an ancient Buddhist temple founded in the early 8th century and lost to fire in the late 9th. Its main hall featured a radial column arrangement found nowhere else in surviving Japanese architecture or in any other excavated site, with only the miniature Tamamushi Shrine at Hōryū-ji as a parallel. Excavated artifacts—including Nara three-color glazed pottery and iron wind-bells—reveal direct ties to the imperial court, earning the site designation as a National Historic Site in 2001.

Deep in the primeval forest of Hakusan National Park in Gifu Prefecture, Shiramizu Falls plunges 67.4 meters down a sheer columnar-jointed andesite cliff formed by Mount Hakusan's lava flow some 2,200 years ago. Designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 2024 — the first waterfall in Gifu to receive this honor — the falls dazzle visitors with their distinctive milky-white waters. Discover its history, highlights, and access details.

The grove surrounding Suhara Shrine in Mino City, Gifu Prefecture, was designated a National Natural Monument in 1935 as a breeding ground for the Buppousou, the strikingly beautiful Oriental Dollarbird. This guide explores the centuries-old legend of the sacred bird thought to chant the Three Treasures of Buddhism, the famous 1935 discovery that resolved a millennium of mistaken identity, and the venerable Hakusan-faith shrine that stands beside the Nagara River.

Explore the Sekigahara Battlefield in Gifu, where Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari clashed in 1600. Visit camp sites, generals' graves, and head mounds—nine national historic sites preserved across the plain that decided Japan's fate.

Discover the Five Cedars of Senkō-ji Temple, a National Natural Monument standing on the pilgrimage path of Hida-Senkō-ji in Takayama, Gifu. This guide explores the cedar's remarkable five-trunk form, its 1,200-year history, the temple's Enkū statues, and practical visitor information for travelers from abroad.

Standing within the precincts of the historic Zenshōji Temple in Gero City, Gifu Prefecture, this magnificent Japanese cedar is a designated National Natural Monument. Estimated at approximately 1,200 years old, with a height of about 40 meters and a trunk circumference of 10.3 meters, it is one of the Hida region's most outstanding ancient trees—easily combined with a visit to the temple's celebrated Sesshū Daruma painting and the Bansaidō garden.

Located in Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Takayama Jinya is the only Tokugawa Shogunate magistrate's office in Japan whose main Edo-period buildings still stand on their original site. Designated a National Historic Site in 1929, this remarkable complex served as the seat of Hida governance for 277 years. Explore its rich history, architectural highlights, and visitor information.

On a low hill in Motosu, Gifu, ancient communities built some 290 tombs over four centuries. See the red-painted chamber of Tomb 272 and the museum of grave goods.

A National Historic Site in Gifu, this mountain castle was held by three Mori brothers, including the famous page Ranmaru, until its deliberate dismantling in 1601.

On a Nagara River terrace in Gifu, a 7th-century burial mound, a Hakuho-era temple, an 8th-10th-century district office, and a tile-supplying kiln converge.