Why No One Visits Gifu City, Japan’s Hidden Gem 🇯🇵 (EP 1)

Why No One Visits Gifu City, Japan’s Hidden Gem 🇯🇵 (EP 1)

Bonjour and welcome to my Japan Series. In this episode, you’ll see a traditional cormorant fishing show, a beautiful garden in Gifu park, a mountain with an amazing view, and squirrels. Our Japan adventure started in Gifu City. The first few episodes of this series
will follow our road trip around Gifu Prefecture and a few places nearby. Most people will do a road trip
with a nice loop like this. But no, we tried to follow the autumn
leaves peak except the leaves were late
by like… a whole month. So our route ended up looking like a child
drew it with crayons. A beautiful mess. All the info about Gifu City
is linked below. We landed in Osaka and spent three nights there. Not for exploring, but to not become narcoleptic from jetlag before the road trip. I mean, no surprise there but I didn’t sleep again last night. What’s happening? We are now checking out of our hotel, and we’re gonna go pick up a car. To go where? Japan road trip. To Gifu City and the Gifu Prefecture I’m excited to drive in Japan because we’ve only really seen
this small bubble of Osaka. Yeah. And like normally it’s
probably all you would do and just get the train out to another city, and another city. We’re actually going to drive around
another country, which makes it more fun. It was time to pick up our first rental car. [Japanese train jingle] We took the train to the rental place. When we noticed… Do you identify as a woman? Anyway, let’s quickly hop up this train before my life turns into a remake of
The Danish Girl. We arrived at the Nissan Rent A Car to, the clue is in the name, rent a Nissan car. We signed a few papers we didn’t
fully understand. And on the subject of not understanding, a very kind man walked us to our car and explained everything
there is to know… in Japanese. Ah okay, yea okay. [speaking Japanese] Just leave it? Ok. In Japan, those cute little tangerine cars are apparently used for nursing homes. So we basically looked like an old lady and her caregiver on a wild road trip. That’s it Ryan, we’re off. Oh [beep] what’s that noise? About to launch our spaceship. Literally. How do you feel driving? I feel alright, I just want to get out of the city because it’s stressful. And just like that,
we were driving in Japan for the first time. But ten minutes later, It should just go on. Oh [beep]. First thing we [beep] it look. That’s alright we can buy a new one, no? [beep]. Oh, that’s it, it’s going down. Anyway, we somehow fixed it and finally continued to Gifu City. We are now on the motorway
and it’s raining. They put those walls next to the motorway to protect against, like, noise pollution. We are now going to do a stop off
to get some food. Yeah. We are in a town called Higashiomi. Ryan is cheating. What you don’t know is that we had been learning Japanese for a year and a half at the time. Let’s review : koko, soko, asoko. Are wa nan desu ka? Are wa Konbini desu. Very good. So does “de” means “in”? Ryouri shimasu. Ryouri shimasu, very good. You’ll cook. Yea, chicken tikka masala. Anyway, picking up where we left off. You are using the translator with your phone. Don’t you think I see you? You would have no chance. This is what you need. That is rice, miso soup and whatever that is. That’s what you need. This looks so good. We had a nice lunch at Coco’s and we were back on the road again. How has it been driving in Japan? It’s been good. It’s been good. The city’s been really stressful though. Like Osaka was stress. Yea. But yea, it’s good. It’s quite relaxing actually. But is it the same then? Well yea, they are driving the same side as us,
don’t they in the UK. So it was easy peasy? It wasn’t too bad. We arrived at our hotel in the evening and a staff member
helped us park in one of this car lifts. Okay okay, okay okay. All right, all right, all right. Hai ok desu. Ryan was thrilled to finally see a bed. Sleepy time. We stayed at Hotel Il Credo Gifu, it is located next to the train and bus stations and the staff is lovely. I left the link below. The next day, time for sightseeing. We started at Gifu Park. It has a lovely footpath through a garden leading to the ropeway. We also found a lovely traditional Japanese teahouse in the park. We’re just about to have our lunch in Gifu Park. It looks absolutely unbelievable. Look at that. I’m going to inhale this now. We then took the ropeway up to Mount Kinka. Wow it’s beautiful is’t it. There is a stunning panoramic view at the top. And if you fancy climbing even higher, you can visit Gifu Castle
and see another view from the top. We are in Gifu Castle overlooking Gifu City and maybe some other towns. Ryan also discovered a new hobby Gashapon. They are everywhere in Japan. It’s quite big. Which one did we get? I guess when you spend a whole day
sightseeing, you deserve a mystery toy. I will definitely get more samurai Gacha. And if the view wasn’t enough… And now we are going to like a
squirrel village. Yes, you heard me right. I know it’s a bit random, and you can feed them. Oh, get that down ya. He’s proper got his paw on my finger. He is so cute. Oh mate, you’re having a good old feast. After feeding the squirrels
a full on three meal, We went back down to Gifu Park. And the day wasn’t over. in the evening we had the cormorant fishing show that our hotel kindly booked for us. We are now taking the bus
to see the fishermen. So we’re on the Nagara River. We’re watching a fishing show. This ancient tradition dates back
more than 1,300 years. Fishermen train cormorant birds
to catch fish for them, using fire-lit boats at night. It was so exciting to watch. We couldn’t recommend it enough. The next day was our last day in Gifu City. We decided to explore the old town. So, Ryan, where are we? We are in the old townscape of Kawaramachi. Next to the Nagara River. So the man that was piloting our
boat last night on the Nagara River, told us that there isn’t many fishermen anymore, because they’ve gone to other jobs. I guess there’s just not much
opportunities anymore. And that is the end of this first episode. [Ryan Laughs awkwardly] [Ryan Laughs awkwardly]
We were a bit shy to film ourselves at the start of this trip. Talk a bit louder. [Ryan whispering] That’s the same height. [Ryan whispering] You’re whispering right now. I know. [beep] Like we, we just went back. [beep] Ermm… [beep] [crickets chirping] [beep] But we’ll keep getting better, I promise. If you enjoyed watching this video, please do let me know with a comment or a thumbs up. It will tell me, “yes Sybille, keep pouring your savings to create videos of your travels” In the next episode, we’ll take you through Takayama’s countryside. Oh Sybille you’re getting me wet. Oups Sorry. Ryan is always so moody. He treats me like such a bad man. And the beautiful city of Kanazawa. First bite. [Ryan Laughing] There’s gold on your lips Sybille. Is there? Subscribe so you don’t miss it. And merci for watching.

#JapanTravel #GifuCity #HiddenJapan 

Welcome to Episode 1 of our Japan travel series! 🎌 

We are a French and British couple traveling through Japan, sharing the real, unfiltered moments of our adventures.

Most tourists skip Gifu City… Here is why they are missing out!

🌟 Did you enjoy this video?
You might also like our exclusive podcast → https://www.patreon.com/BackpackBim

📌 Chapters:
00:00 – Episode Intro
00:25 – Welcome to Gifu City
01:37 – Renting Our First Car in Osaka
05:38 – Exploring Gifu Park
06:36 – Mount Kinka Ropeway View
07:55 – Squirrel Village
08:22 – Cormorant Fishing Show
09:50 – Gifu Old Town
10:24 – Bloopers
10:52 – Outro
11:03 – Next Episode Preview

Affiliate disclaimer: Some links below are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase – at no extra cost to you.

📝 Blog:
→ Gifu City Blog: https://www.backpackbim.com/post/gifu-city-travel-guide

🏨 Accommodation: 
→ Hotel we stayed at in Gifu City: https://www.trip.com/t/WwJaM8z7yR2

✨ Best Activities:
→ Gifu Half Day Private Tour: https://vi.me/rpevL

📸 What I Film With: 
→ Camera Sony A7Siii: https://amzn.to/44KxWas
→ Lens Sony FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II: https://amzn.to/4lTnDry
→ Lens Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II: https://amzn.to/3GGgcow

🎵 Music Licensing:
→ All music in this video is from Musicbed: https://www.musicbed.com/invite/j158O 

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