[Autumn/Winter 2026] Gifu Park Art Guide: Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition, Gifu Light Story and the Reopened Museum of History

Gifu Park in Gifu City lies at the foot of Mount Kinka, topped by Gifu Castle, and is home to museums, a tea house and restaurants. On Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (national holiday), the Gifu City Museum of History reopens after renovating its main exhibition hall, and from Friday the 6th to Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday), it hosts the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU.” From Saturday, January 30, “Gifu Light Story 2027” begins at Gifu Park and nearby Shoho-ji Temple. Meanwhile, the castle keep of Gifu Castle on the summit is closed for renovation, and the Gifu Kinkazan Ropeway also has suspension periods. We have sorted out the facilities and dates to know before visiting Gifu Park this winter.

*Disclosure: The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” and “Gifu Light Story 2027,” featured in this article, are events produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).

What kind of place is Gifu Park? Museums and a tea house at the foot of Mount Kinka

According to Gifu City, Gifu Park is surrounded by Mount Kinka, crowned by Gifu Castle, and the Nagara River, known for its cormorant fishing. The park contains a Three-Story Pagoda (Registered Tangible Cultural Property) built in 1917 (Taisho 6) with timber from the former Nagara Bridge as a project commemorating the enthronement of Emperor Taisho. The Japanese garden “Nobunaga’s Garden” is a rock garden using about 1,000 tons of boulders from the Nagara River basin, composed of three waterfalls—“Strength,” “Tranquility” and “Elegance”—and a pond.

Cultural facilities include the Gifu City Museum of History, its annex the Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum, and the Nawa Insect Museum. On April 26, 2025, the dining and retail facility Gifu Castle Rakuichi opened. The park also contains the “Site of Lord Nobunaga’s Residence,” where Oda Nobunaga’s mansion once stood, and Gifu City was recognized as the first Japan Heritage site by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as “Gifu, a Warring States Castle Town Alive with ‘Lord Nobunaga’s Hospitality.’”

Gifu City Museum of History: Reopens November 3, with the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” from the 6th

The Gifu City Museum of History had been closed since October 23, 2025, for the renovation of its main exhibition hall. According to the museum, the new main exhibition hall has been reborn with a focus on the Sengoku (Warring States) period and introduces displays using digital images of materials in its collection. On November 3, the reopening day, the free area of the 1st-floor entrance opens at 10:00 and the main exhibition hall on the 2nd floor at 11:30, and karakuri puppet performances from the Gifu Festival (the Atakaguruma, Wakaebisuguruma and Kiyokageguruma floats) will be held in the 1st-floor entrance hall. Admission to the main exhibition hall (permanent exhibition) is ¥460 for adults (high school students and older) and ¥230 for elementary and junior high school students. Advance tickets (¥370 for adults, ¥140 for elementary and junior high school students) were sold online until Monday, November 2.

From the 6th, the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” begins in the special exhibition hall on the 1st floor. Visitors move through spaces of 3DCG animation and projection mapping based on more than 300 ukiyo-e prints by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and others, and the Gifu venue also offers videos in which ukiyo-e of Nobunaga and cormorant fishing come to life, as well as explanatory displays on ukiyo-e of Gifu. Same-day admission is ¥1,500 for adults (high school students and older) and ¥700 for elementary and junior high school students, and includes the main exhibition hall on the 2nd floor. Details of the exhibition are in our article on the Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU, and collaboration products and discounts in our article on the collaboration with Gifu Castle Rakuichi.

Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum: Works by two painter brothers from Gifu City

This annex of the Gifu City Museum of History is located in Gifu Park. It collects and exhibits the works of Eizo Kato and Toichi Kato, painter brothers from Gifu City. It is open 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30) and closed on Mondays (or the following day if a national holiday), the day after national holidays and December 28 – January 3. Until Sunday, November 15, it is hosting the “Exhibition Marking the 30th Anniversary of the Gifu City Arts and Culture Encouragement Award.” A combined ticket for the Museum of History’s permanent exhibition and the annex is also available, with advance tickets until November 2 priced at ¥530 for adults and ¥200 for elementary and junior high school students.

Gifu Castle Rakuichi and Kashoken: Collaborations with the ukiyo-e exhibition and evening opening during Gifu Light Story

According to Gifu City, Gifu Castle Rakuichi is a dining and retail facility established under Park-PFI, a system in which private operators set up restaurants and other facilities in parks. During the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU,” it sells collaboration products such as Inokuchi Coffee Roastery’s “Geisha Blend” (¥270), Shikisai Udon Hana Kinton’s “Ukiyo-e Immersive Set Meal” (¥2,980) and incense from Gifu Orinpian (¥1,430 each). During “Gifu Light Story 2027,” Shikisai Udon Hana Kinton, Inokuchi Coffee Roastery, Noka no Daidokoro Kisara, Aigisan Shokudo, Niku Kobo Minoya, Fruits Candy ar. and the honey shop Akitaya will open specially in the evening.

The tea house Kashoken, in the visitors’ rest area, is open 10:00–16:00 from January 4 to December 28 (closed on Mondays, or the following day if a national holiday) and serves a bowl of tea with a sweet for ¥500. During the ukiyo-e exhibition, it also offers tea with an original Japanese sweet (¥600).

Shoho-ji Temple (Gifu Great Buddha): A “basket Buddha” of woven bamboo, also a venue for Gifu Light Story

Shoho-ji Temple (Obaku school), about a 3-minute walk from the “Gifu Koen / Gifu-jo” bus stop, enshrines the Gifu Great Buddha, about 13.7 m tall. According to Gifu City, Abbot Ichu, the 11th head priest, planned its construction, and it was completed in 1832 (Tenpo 3) after 38 years. It is a “basket Buddha” (kago daibutsu): a wooden framework was covered with bamboo woven like a basket as a base, coated with clay, pasted with paper inscribed with Buddhist scriptures and finished with lacquer and gold leaf, and it is said to be the largest Buddha made in this way in Japan. The basket Buddha (with an attached wooden seated Yakushi Nyorai) is an Important Cultural Property of Gifu Prefecture, and the Great Buddha Hall an Important Cultural Property of Gifu City; both are also included in a nationally designated Important Cultural Landscape. According to the Gifu Convention & Visitors Bureau, visiting hours are 9:00–17:00, and admission is ¥300 for adults and ¥150 for children.

“Gifu Light Story 2027” from January 30: The light of Japanese umbrellas and lanterns, and projections onto the rock face at the residence site

“Gifu Light Story 2027” will be held at Gifu Park and Shoho-ji Temple from Saturday, January 30 to Sunday, February 28, 2027, from 17:30 to 21:00 (last entry 20:30). Its theme is “A Thousand Years of Light, Unfolding at Night.” The venue is lit by Gifu wagasa umbrellas and Gifu lanterns, both nationally designated traditional crafts, and videos with motifs of cormorant fishing on the Nagara River, clear streams and folding-screen paintings are projected onto the rock face of the garden at the “Site of Lord Nobunaga’s Residence” and other surfaces. The staging differs by area—“Great Garden with Waterfall & Three-Story Pagoda,” “Senjojiki,” “Below Senjojiki,” “Kabukimon Gate to the Stairs” and “Gifu Great Buddha Illumination”—and according to the organizers, a sea-of-clouds effect will be added for the first time.

On weekdays, tickets are ¥1,200 same-day (¥1,100 advance) for adults (18 and over) and ¥900 same-day (¥800 advance) for junior high and high school students; on weekends and holidays, ¥1,400 same-day (¥1,300 advance) for adults and ¥1,100 same-day (¥1,000 advance) for junior high and high school students. Admission is free for elementary school students and younger and for people with disabilities and one caregiver. Advance tickets are on sale from 10:00 on Sunday, November 1, 2026, until 23:59 on Friday, January 29, 2027. During the event, day-trip bathing is also available at five facilities in Nagaragawa Onsen. The organizers recommend public transportation, warning that visitors coming by car may wait more than an hour to park. For details, see our article on Gifu Light Story 2027.

Gifu Castle and the ropeway: The castle keep is closed until autumn 2027; watch for ropeway suspension days

Gifu Castle, standing on the summit of Mount Kinka at an elevation of about 329 m, was rebuilt in July 1956 (Showa 31). According to Gifu City, the castle keep and the museum are closed for renovation, with work scheduled to continue until late October 2027 and a reopening planned for November 2027.

The Gifu Kinkazan Ropeway, the observation restaurant on the summit and Squirrel Village remain open as usual during the work. However, the ropeway is scheduled to be unavailable from Tuesday, December 1 to Monday, December 28, 2026, and from Thursday, January 7 to Tuesday, February 16, 2027, for maintenance work and inspections. The suspension overlaps the ukiyo-e exhibition from December 1 to 28 and from January 7, and Gifu Light Story until February 16. The mountain path from the summit station to just before the castle keep is not closed, but the Meiso no Komichi (Mizunote-michi) trail and the Hanataka hiking course dead-end just short of the summit. From November 3, the Japan’s 100 Fine Castles stamp will be available at the Gifu City Museum of History and the ropeway’s summit station (until November 2, at the Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum and the summit station).

Getting around and access

From JR Gifu Station or Meitetsu Gifu Station, take a Gifu Bus bound for Nagarabashi (N routes and others) and get off at “Gifu Koen / Gifu-jo,” about 15 minutes away. The Gifu City Museum of History is a 3- to 5-minute walk from the stop.

For a daytime visit, one option is to see the ukiyo-e exhibition and the main exhibition hall at the Gifu City Museum of History, eat at Gifu Castle Rakuichi, take a break with tea at Kashoken and then go on to the Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum and Shoho-ji Temple. All are in or around Gifu Park and within walking distance. Note, however, that closing days differ by facility. The ukiyo-e exhibition is closed on Mondays (open November 23 and January 11), November 24 and December 28 – January 4; the Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum is also closed on Mondays and other days; and the Nawa Insect Museum is closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (open on national holidays).

Editor’s perspective

At Gifu Park this winter, two events of different character continue across the seasons: an immersive exhibition inside the museum by day, and light staging that uses the park and temple themselves as a stage by night. The reopened main exhibition hall of the Museum of History centers on the Sengoku period, the ukiyo-e exhibition includes videos exclusive to the Gifu venue on the themes of Nobunaga and cormorant fishing, and Gifu Light Story projects images onto the rock face at the Site of Lord Nobunaga’s Residence. The combination lets visitors trace the Japan Heritage story of “Lord Nobunaga’s Hospitality” through different means: exhibitions, video and a nighttime garden.

The Gifu wagasa umbrellas and Gifu lanterns that serve as light sources for Gifu Light Story are both nationally designated traditional crafts; the umbrellas were designated in 2022. Using crafts as lighting brings local craftsmanship into the nighttime landscape in a way distinct from video technologies such as projection mapping. The coexistence of video and the light of crafts at the same venue is another feature of the event.

On the other hand, renovation of the castle keep of Gifu Castle on the summit will continue until autumn 2027, and the ropeway is scheduled to be suspended in December and from January to mid-February. This winter, the highlights are concentrated in the park and temple at the foot of Mount Kinka rather than on the mountain itself. Because which facilities are open varies by day, check each facility’s closing days together with the ropeway’s suspension dates. Light events across Japan are also introduced in our roundup of projection mapping and light events, and events staged at castles in our article on castle projection mapping.

Frequently asked questions

Can I enter the castle keep of Gifu Castle?

No. The castle keep and the museum are closed for renovation, and according to Gifu City, a reopening is planned for November 2027. On days the ropeway is running, you can walk from the summit station to just before the castle keep.

When is the ropeway suspended?

It is scheduled to be suspended from Tuesday, December 1 to Monday, December 28, 2026, and from Thursday, January 7 to Tuesday, February 16, 2027, for maintenance work and inspections.

Does a ticket to the ukiyo-e exhibition also cover the permanent exhibition?

Yes. Admission to the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” also lets you see the main exhibition hall (permanent exhibition) on the 2nd floor. Depending on how crowded it is, you may have to wait to enter the main exhibition hall.

Can I eat at Gifu Park in the evening?

During “Gifu Light Story 2027,” seven shops at Gifu Castle Rakuichi will open specially in the evening. Check the official website of Gifu Castle Rakuichi for shop information and opening hours.

Key information on the main facilities and events

Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU: Friday, November 6, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday), 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30), special exhibition hall on the 1st floor of the Gifu City Museum of History (2-18-1 Omiyacho, Gifu). Same-day tickets ¥1,500 for adults and ¥700 for elementary and junior high school students. Official website: https://www.ukiyoeimmersiveart.com/gifu
Gifu Light Story 2027: Saturday, January 30 – Sunday, February 28, 2027, 17:30–21:00 (last entry 20:30), Gifu Park (1 Omiyacho, Gifu) and Shoho-ji Temple (8 Daibutsucho, Gifu). Official website: https://gifulightstory.com/
Gifu City Museum of History, main exhibition hall: Reopens Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday). Adults ¥460; elementary and junior high school students ¥230
Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum: 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30), 1-46 Omiyacho, Gifu (in Gifu Park)
Kashoken: 10:00–16:00 (January 4 – December 28); closed on Mondays (or the following day if a national holiday); ¥500 for a bowl of tea (with a sweet)
Shoho-ji Temple (Gifu Great Buddha): 9:00–17:00; adults ¥300, children ¥150
Nawa Insect Museum: 10:00–17:00; closed on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays (open on national holidays); adults (high school students and older) ¥650, children (age 4 to junior high school) ¥450
Gifu Kinkazan Ropeway: Suspended (scheduled) from Tuesday, December 1 to Monday, December 28, 2026, and from Thursday, January 7 to Tuesday, February 16, 2027
Gifu Castle keep and museum: Closed for renovation (reopening planned for November 2027)
*Information as of October 30, 2026. Please check each facility’s official website for the latest information.

*Top image: The Three-Story Pagoda in Gifu Park, May 2025 (Photo: Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information from Gifu City’s official website (Gifu Park, Gifu Castle keep, improvement work on the summit area of Mount Kinka and the Gifu Great Buddha), the official website of the Gifu City Museum of History (reopening, renovation of the main exhibition hall, advance tickets and the Eizo and Toichi Kato Memorial Art Museum), the Gifu Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Gifu City tourism navigator (Gifu Great Buddha, Nawa Insect Museum and Japan Heritage), a press release from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (November 16, 2022) and press releases from HITOHATA, INC. (October 21, 23 and 28, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” and “Gifu Light Story 2027,” featured in this article, are events produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).

The latest information on events produced by HITOHATA, INC. is available at HITOHATA, INC.’s event information. Inquiries about projection mapping on cultural properties, parks and other urban buildings, and about hosting or co-organizing the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition,” are accepted through the company’s contact form.