is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important strategic role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku period, various warlords used the area as a base in their efforts to unify and control Japan. Among them was Oda Nobunaga, who gave the region the name it is known by today. Gifu continued to flourish even after Japan's unification as both an important shukuba along the Edo period NakasendōNakasendo to Shukuba-machi Gifu City Hall. Accessed September 9, 2007. and, later, as one of Japan's fashion centers. It has been designated a core city by the national government. The city is a part of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, centered around Nagoya.
Overview Located on the alluvial plain of the Nagara River, Gifu has taken advantage of the surrounding natural resources to create both traditional industries (including Mino washi and agriculture) and tourism opportunities such as cormorant fishing. Mount Kinka, one of the city's major symbols, is home to a nationally designated forest and Gifu Castle, a replica of Nobunaga's former castle. Gifu also hosts many festivals and events throughout the year.
Two major rail lines connect Gifu to Japan's national and international transportation infrastructure. JR Central's Tōkaidō Main Line runs through the city, connecting it with Nagoya, one of Japan's largest cities, and the surrounding area. The city has a direct train route to Chubu Centrair International Airport and facilities capable of hosting international events. Gifu has active relationships with six sister cities.
, the city has an estimated population of 401,534 in 178,246 households, and a population density of about . The total area of the city was .
Cityscape
Geography
The city of Gifu is located in the southern portion of the prefecture and is on the northern edge of the Nōbi Plain. It is also the main city of the Gifu region of the prefecture. Much of Gifu's land area has been gained as the result of mergers, but the city's size grew the most through mergers with the neighboring towns of Kanō (in 1940) and Yanaizu (in 2006). As a result, Gifu's geography is very diverse, ranging from the built-up city center to persimmon orchards and strawberry patches in the outlying areas.Gifu City: Where History and Culture Still Thrive. Gifu City Tourism Convention Division, 2007]. The northern part of the city is bordered by tree-covered mountains, whereas most of the city center is spread throughout the southern part. The Nagara River cuts the city in half, running from the northeast to the southwest. Much of the city is part of the Nagara River's alluvial plain and an environmental conservation district. Because of the formation of the river, the area is prone to flooding when typhoons or heavy thunderstorms occur; however, dykes and levies have been built to control the excess water. The rich soil of the area is prime farmland; as of 2005, 6,731 farms were operating on .
Climate Gifu experiences a wide range of weather throughout the year, but in general is characterized by hot and humid summers, and mild winters (Köppen climate classification Cfa). The average annual temperature in Gifu is . The average annual rainfall is with September as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August and lowest in January.Gifu climate data Gifu recorded a record high of on August 16, 2007 and record low of on January 24, 1927.
Surrounding municipalities Gifu Prefecture Ginan Hashima Kakamigahara Kasamatsu Kitagata Mizuho Motosu Ōgaki Seki Yamagata
Demographics When Gifu was founded in 1889, it was a small city that experienced moderate growth as Japan industrialized at the beginning of the century. During Japan's military buildup in the 1930s, the city became an industrial center and experienced exponential growth. Gifu remained prosperous in the post-war years, until its population started to decline like many Japanese cities in the 1980s and '90s. Though the city has shown a large increase in population in recent years, this trend results largely from the inclusion, for the first time, of the population of Yanaizu, which added about 13,000 people to Gifu's numbers. Foreign residents of the city, who number over 9,000, also factor into this growth. Shortly after this change, however, the city's economic revival strengthened and the population began to show a true increase, although this has reversed in recent decades.Gifu population statistics
Gifu's estimated population, as of July 2011, is 412,895. The gender breakdown is 196,762 males and 216,133 females, with a total of 162,060 households within the city limits. Similar to many areas in Japan, the percentage of senior citizens over 65 years of age is approximately 21.67%, compared to only 14.13% of the population younger than 15.Population Statistics. Gifu City Hall. Accessed January 16, 2008. This is comparable to the population of the prefecture and of Japan as a whole. In the prefecture, 22.1% of the population is over 65 and 14.4% of the population is less than 15 years old.Statistics Division of Gifu Prefecture. Gifu Prefecture. Accessed November 2, 2007. Throughout Japan, only 21% are over the age of 65 and 13.6% are younger than 15 as of 2008.Asia: Japan: Most Elderly Nation. The New York Times. Accessed January 17, 2008. The average age of city residents is 43.37. As of 2022, the population of Gifu stands at 401,779.
History Two archaeological sites in the city of Gifu have shown that the area around modern-day Gifu has had residents since pre-historyGifu in the Heart of Japan. Harry Hill, 1988. because of Gifu's location in the fertile Nōbi Plain. The Ryomonji and Kotozuka sites have produced large burial mounds that are representative of the late-Yayoi period, which is when rice cultivation began in Japan. As civilization in Japan grew, permanent settlements began to appear and, eventually, the village of Inokuchi was established, which would eventually become the modern city of Gifu.
Sengoku period
"Control Gifu and you control Japan"Instant Gifu. Gifu International Center, 1995. was a common phrase during the Sengoku period (15th to 17th century), since Gifu's central location in Japan made it a desirable location for those trying to unify the country. For over 200 years, the Mino Province (including the present-day city of Gifu) was under control of the Toki clan, a powerful regional clan.Toki clan. Sengoku Expo. Accessed July 4, 2007. However, during the Sengoku period, Saitō Dōsan, a Toki vassal, rebelled against his clan and took control of Mino Province in 1542 and built Inabayama Castle atop Mount Inaba, from which he began his quest to unify Japan.
During Dōsan's reign, his daughter Nōhime married Oda Nobunaga, the heir of the fast rising clan in the neighboring Owari Province, with the hopes of an alliance of the two families' would present a powerful front against their competitors. However, it would be Nobunaga that eventually absorbed Dōsan's Saitō clan in the mid-sixteenth century, as Dōsan had done to his retainer.Sengoku Bushō Retsuden 12: Saitō Dōsan . Accessed September 20, 2007. It was during Nobunaga's reign of power that the area finally received its modern name. After consulting with a Buddhist priest, Nobunaga renamed the village and the surrounding Mino Province to Gifu in 1567.Stone ledger in front of Kashimori Shrine. Erected by Kashimori Shrine. He took the first character (岐 gi) from Qishan (岐山), the legendary mountain from which most of ancient China was unified. The second character (阜 fu) means "base of the mountain" and comes from Qufu (曲阜), the birthplace of Confucius.Gifu tour guide – Outline of Gifu Prefecture . Gifu Prefecture Tourist Federation. Accessed September 9, 2007. Though he was not originally from the area, Nobunaga chose to use Dōsan's castle and mountain as his base of operations, which he renamed Gifu Castle and Mount Kinka, respectively. In 1586, the Tenshō earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 affected the region, killing several thousand people.
Gifu's economy grew immensely during this period, primarily due to its location at the center of Nobunaga's expanding empire. Additionally, Nobunaga established Rakuichi Rakuza (楽市楽座), a free market for his citizens to use, in direct response to the commercial monopoly of the area's temples and shrines. The liveliness of the town caused Luís Fróis, a Portuguese Jesuit Missionary and guest of Nobunaga, to describe Gifu as a "bustling Babylon".
Edo and Meiji periods Following the death of Nobunaga, Gifu's growth continued through the Edo period with the establishment of the Nakasendō as one of Tokugawa's five routes. Although the route did not pass directly through Gifu, the nearby post towns of Kanō-juku and Gōdo-juku provided traffic and were later amalgamated into the modern city of Gifu. The area continued to prosper once Gifu became a central location along the Nakasendō. The Gifu Goten was established, which later was turned into the magistrate's office.
In the middle of the Meiji period, Gifu was officially established as a city on July 1, 1889, with an original population of 25,750 people and an area of 10 km2.Gifu-shi no Ayumi (Outline of Gifu City 2005). Gifu City Hall, April 2005. On October 28, 1891, two years later, the Mino–Owari earthquake occurred, estimated at 8 magnitude on the Richter Scale.Mino Earthquake Tokyo Science Museum. Accessed July 5, 2007. About 37% of the city was lost to fire, resulting in 1,505 casualties (245 dead, 1,260 injured) and 6,336 buildings affected (3,993 of which were completely destroyed).Outline of Gifu City 2007. Gifu City Hall, April 2007. As a result, Gifu erected the first Earthquake Memorial Hall in all of Japan, which holds memorial services for the victims on the 28th of every month.
Gifu recovered from the earthquake damage by the end of the Meiji period, and by 1911 was prosperous enough to establish a municipal street car service throughout the city.
Pacific War In 1940, Gifu absorbed the former post town of Kanō, greatly increasing its land area. Kanō had many traditional industries, which helped improve Gifu's overall industrial strength. With the neighboring city of Kakamigahara serving as an aeronautics center for Japan, Gifu was a large industrial center during Pacific War, including a downtown manufacturing sector.Crew 3's Account of Gifu Mission. 39th Bomb Group Association. Accessed July 13, 2007. As a result, Gifu was the target of heavy firebombing by the United States Army Air Forces, culminating in the Gifu Air Raid of July 9, 1945, which resulted in 1,383 casualties (863 dead, 520 injured) and 20,426 buildings affected. Gifu commemorates these events each year on July 9, with the ringing of the Peace Bell at each temple within the city. Its sister cities also take part in these events.
During the Pacific War, Gifu also served as the base for the creation of Japan's fire balloons. These paper-based, bomb-carrying hot air balloons were used in a failed attempt to cause havoc on American soil. Local high school girls made these fire balloons out of Mino washi (a thin but strong Japanese paper) and konnyaku paste.Weather of the Empire. Togo Tsukuhara, Kobe University. Accessed June 13, 2007. Originally, rubberized silk was used to help these bombs use the newly discovered jet stream to traverse the Pacific Ocean, but Gifu's paper was found to be both stronger, lighter, and more airtight.The Fire Balloons. Greg Goebel. Accessed November 23, 2007.
Modern history