{"id":2912,"date":"2013-04-07T00:01:39","date_gmt":"2013-04-07T07:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2021-06-27T07:28:17","modified_gmt":"2021-06-27T14:28:17","slug":"japan-land-of-spectacular-festivals-foods-castles-gifu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/japan-land-of-spectacular-festivals-foods-castles-gifu","title":{"rendered":"Japan \u2013 Land of Spectacular Festivals, Foods & Castles \u2013 Gifu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyoto<\/a> was a wonderful step back into classical Japan, with its serene gardens, atmospheric temples, and exquisitely decked out geishas. Next stop: Gifu<\/a>. Its main claim to fame is the ukai <\/a>(cormorant fishing) show on the Nagara River, the largest such display in Japan.<\/p>\n

In a tradition dating back over 1,300 years, six fishing masters use their birds to catch ayu (sweetfish). Although the show is for tourist consumption, the ukai remains a time-honored practice as the cormorant fishing masters in Gifu are patronized by the Emperor.<\/p>\n

\"Fish<\/a>
Fish baskets along the Nagara River bank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since we were just overnighting in Gifu and it was a lovely sunny day, we decided to take a short stroll down the river bank to the Fishing Masters\u2019 Village. The water was a stunning turquoise blue with sunlight sparkling like diamonds on the water’s edge.<\/p>\n

The semi-circular indentations in the concrete walkway make good docking places for the baskets. In the distance is the Nagara bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Boats<\/a>
Tourist boats for the ukai.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the show can be seen from the banks, these boats allow tourists a closer look at the action. Depending on the schedule, there is a briefing by a Fishing Master before boarding the boats.<\/p>\n

\"Stained<\/a>
A window in the Fishing Masters\u2019 Village showcasing two of the city\u2019s top attractions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This wired glass window\u2019s overlay depicts two of the city\u2019s top attractions: the ukai with cormorants in a fishing boat and the Gifu Castle which can be seen in the background during the event.<\/p>\n

Adjacent to the Fishing Masters’ Village is Kawaramachi<\/a>, literally meaing \u2018riverside town\u2019, which is lined with restored Meiji era<\/a> wooden structures. Some of these buildings now house tourist craft shops, restaurants and cafes.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Gifu lantern (chou-chin) decorated with a scene depicting the ukai.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ukai themed lanterns line the lattice-walled houses of the Kawaramachi. The area remains surprisingly quiet till tourists show up in force for the evening performances.<\/p>\n

\"Ayu<\/a>
Ayu gashi, a Gifu specialty of sweetfish-shaped sponge cake with mochi (sweet rice paste) filling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some shops in Kawaramachi make and sell traditional ayu gashi, which is only available during the Ukai season between May 11 and October 15.<\/p>\n

\"Cormorant<\/a>
Fishing Master handling the cormorants\u2019 rope leashes under the bright flames of the kagari-bi (the fire used to attract the ayu and provide light to work with).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I would have loved to see the ukai. Unfortunately part of our group was held up due to flight delays, so we weren\u2019t able to attend, but here\u2019s a picture of what could have been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kyoto was a wonderful step back into classical Japan, with its serene gardens, atmospheric temples, and exquisitely decked out geishas. Next stop: Gifu. Its main claim to fame is the ukai (cormorant fishing) show on the Nagara River, the largest such display in Japan. In a tradition dating back over 1,300 years, six fishing masters …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,415,15],"tags":[289,287,290,288],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-food","category-interior-design","category-travel","tag-chou-chin","tag-gifu","tag-kawara-machi","tag-ukai"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Gifu-Comorant-Fishing-Ukai-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2912"}],"version-history":[{"count":62,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8713,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions\/8713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}