Gifu

Gifu has 55 onsen areas and 506 springs (Ministry of the Environment, FY2024), with more than 3.5 million overnight stays a year. Its two pillars are Gero, counted among Japan's three most famous springs, and the Okuhida group, five onsen villages at the foot of the Northern Alps. The Tono district in the south has many radon springs, so the mountain baths of Hida and the lowland baths of Mino have clearly different characters.

Main onsen areas

In the northern Hida region are Gero and Nigorigo on the slopes of Mt Ontake, the Okuhida group in Takayama (Hirayu, Fukuji, Shin-Hirayu, Tochio and Shinhotaka) and Hida Takayama itself, with Shirakawago-no-yu in Shirakawa village. In the southern Mino region are Nagaragawa in Gifu City, Meiho in Gujo, and in the Tono district around Ena, Mizunami, Toki and Nakatsugawa, small radon springs such as Oniiwa and Ena Radium.

Characteristic spring types

Simple springs are the most common in our records, followed by chloride, radon and bicarbonate. Gero is an alkaline simple spring above pH 9, with a smooth feel on the skin. Hirayu and Shinhotaka in Okuhida have abundant flows and plenty of open-air baths. Many of Tono's radon springs are cool at the source.

Reachable by public transport

Gero is a walk from Gero Station on the JR Takayama Line, about 1.5 hours from Nagoya on the Hida limited express. In Okuhida, Hirayu is about an hour by Nohi bus from Takayama Station and Shinhotaka about 1 hour 45 minutes, and express buses also run from Matsumoto to Hirayu. For Nagaragawa, take a Gifu Bus from JR or Meitetsu Gifu Station to the Ukaiya stop, then walk 3 minutes.

For solo travellers

Gero has public baths and free footbaths within walking distance of the station, easy for a solo day trip. Hirayu has day baths beside its bus terminal, and Hirayu-no-mori accepts room-only stays all year.

Food & culture

Hida beef, hoba miso grilled on a magnolia leaf and Takayama ramen are Hida specialities, and Okuhida has inns in 150-year-old Hida farmhouses and inns built around an open hearth. Near Gero, the Gassho Village gathers relocated thatched farmhouses. At Nagaragawa you can watch Nagara River cormorant fishing, a tradition said to go back some 1,300 years.