Date visited: Sunday, October 11, 2026 — Sunny
The original plan was simple.
Explore Ogaki and enjoy the festival.
But then…
No plan. Too many things to do.
Day two begins.
My Google Map
APA Hotel Ogaki Ekimae
↓
Ogaki Station
↓ Bus
Sunomata Castle
↓ About 50 minutes on foot
Hozumi Station
↓ Train
Ogaki Station
↓
Ogaki Castle & Ogaki Park (Jumangoku Festival)
↓ Train
Gifu Station
↓ Bus
Mt. Kinka Ropeway
↓ Ropeway
Gifu Castle
↓
Le Pont de Ciel Observation Restaurant (Hida Beef Yakiniku Rice Bowl)
↓ Ropeway down the mountain
Akimi Shokudo (Affogato)
↓ Bus
Gifu Station
↓
Oraga Soba, Gifu Station ASTY
↓ Special Rapid Service for Maibara, departing at 6:21 p.m.
First, to Sunomata
I leave the hotel and take a bus from outside Ogaki Station.
My destination is:
Sunomata Ichiya Castle.
🌐 Official website: Sunomata Ichiya Castle (Ogaki City Sunomata Historical Museum)
A castle built in one night.
What kind of castle would that be?
The castle-like building standing here today is a museum.
This place is known as a base used during the campaign to capture Inabayama Castle.
A castle means a castle tower.
Or does it?
A moat can make a place a castle, too.
Ah, this feels familiar.
I saw something similar at the Yoshinogari archaeological site.
An old travel memory suddenly pops up.
No Bus
I take my time exploring.
By the time I’m ready to leave, the return bus has just departed.
The next one won’t come for quite a while.
Wait?
…
I’ll walk.
About 50 minutes to Hozumi Station.
I walk.
And walk.
Finally, Hozumi Station.
I take the train back to Ogaki.
Right, what’s next?
Everyone Is Coming This Way
I arrive at Ogaki Station.
People are streaming toward the station.
I’m going in the opposite direction.
…Wait.
Is the festival already over?
Just then—
BANG!
A gunshot.
It’s still going!
Can I get there in time to take pictures?
I run.
I made it.
I didn’t catch everything.
But—
BANG!
The sound reverberates through my stomach.
Powerful!
How Many Decades Has It Been?
Next, I head to the park in front of Ogaki Castle.
Children are having a wonderful time on the large playground equipment.
And me?
Shaved ice.
How many decades has it been since I last had one?
How nostalgic.
You pour on the syrup yourself.
As much as you like.
Well then…
Two colors. Plenty of both.
Satisfied, I return the container.
…Hmm?
Condensed milk.
It was sitting off to one side.
I wish I’d noticed it earlier.
Right, what’s next?
There’s Still Time
Should I head home?
No.
There’s still time.
In that case…
Gifu Castle (Inabayama Castle).
Sunomata Ichiya Castle is known as a base used in the campaign to capture Inabayama Castle.
So now…
Let’s visit the castle they were trying to capture.
I thought I’d even spotted something that looked like Gifu Castle from Sunomata.
Or so I believed.
What I’d actually seen was…
Construction sheeting.
Haha.
On to Gifu
From Ogaki Station, I travel to Gifu Station.
Then I take a bus toward the foot of Mount Kinka.
As soon as I get off the bus…
Suddenly, it’s a tourist area.
There are new-looking shops lined up along the way.
Maybe I’ll have something sweet on the way back.
First, the ropeway.
🌐 Official website: Mount Kinka Ropeway
Unfortunately, Gifu Castle is undergoing repairs.
What a shame.
Even so, plenty of people are heading up the mountain.
I join them.
The Squirrel Village is open, but the wait is long.
I decide to skip it.
Instead, I look at the castle from outside.
It’s covered in construction sheeting.
I can’t see anything.
Disappointing.
Right, what’s next?
Food.
Hida Beef, Round Three
Sekigahara.
Ogaki.
And now, Mount Kinka.
Hida beef, round three.
A5-grade lean beef.
Not too fatty.
Not overcooked.
One bite.
Oh!
Well, well…
Delicious.
Of the three Hida beef dishes I’ve eaten on this trip,
this is my favorite.
👉 Read more in Food & Flavor.
▶︎🍵 Food & Flavor | Hida Beef, Round Three: “Oh!” — Hida Beef Yakiniku Rice Box on Mount Kinka
Right, what’s next?
Something Sweet
I take the ropeway back down.
Then I stop at the shop that caught my eye earlier.
Affogato.
📍 View the location on Google Maps:
Aigi Sanshokudo
600 yen.
Cold.
Sweet.
A little break.
At the next table, a child is eating green tea soba noodles.
“Yum!”
Now I’m curious.
But I’m already full.
Right, what’s next?
Back to Gifu Station
I take the bus back to Gifu Station.
Now, dinner.
Something light?
Station soba.
Only one staff member…?
They look very busy.
I have a chicken tempura rice bowl with cold soba noodles.
👉 More about this meal in Food & Flavor.
▶︎🍵 Food & Flavor | Just a Light Meal Before Heading Home: Oraga Soba at Gifu Station
I’ve eaten.
Time to go home.
…It’s Still Not Over
6:21 p.m. at Gifu Station.
I board a Special Rapid train that started in Toyohashi and is bound for Maibara.
Gifu is only an intermediate stop.
The train is already crowded, and I can’t get a seat.
Still, there is one advantage.
No need to change trains at Ogaki.
It takes me straight to Maibara.
Then I arrive at Maibara.
I thought the next train would start here, but—
Huh? There are already people on board.
The 7:18 p.m. Special Rapid for Himeji had come from Nagahama.
Fortunately, I still manage to get a seat at Maibara.
So, out comes the PC.
Time to work on my Shikoku Pilgrimage article.
Even the journey home becomes working time.
Later, a personal-injury accident affects the service and the train’s destination is changed.
But I’m getting off before that point, so it doesn’t affect me.
I safely get off the Special Rapid train.
That was a long day.
Now the trip really is over.
I tap my ICOCA at the ticket gate.
Beep.
…Huh?
I ask the station staff.
“You can’t exit like this.”
Because I travelled across both the JR Central and JR West areas?
ICOCA in hand, I head to the fare adjustment machine.
There was still one more thing.
No Plan, Too Many Stops
Sunomata.
A 50-minute walk.
Matchlock guns.
Shaved ice.
Gifu Castle.
Hida beef.
Affogato.
Station soba.
A Special Rapid train.
And then…
Beep!
Somehow,
the whole day felt like wanko soba.
One serving after another.
Except I didn’t actually eat any.
My original plan was simple.
Explore Ogaki and enjoy the festival.
Things certainly changed.
But…
It was fun.
And delicious.
And this trip changed the way I see Gifu.
Instead of searching for one big “Wow!” moment,
I walked.
Picked up little discoveries.
And moved on to the next.
Before I knew it,
those small discoveries had begun to connect.
20,804 steps.
And now, finally…
My two-day trip to Gifu is over.
👉 Day 1 of my Gifu journey: from Sekigahara to Ogaki.
▶︎🚉 Stopover Journey｜Looking for a “Wow!” in Sekigahara, Then to Ogaki｜Two Days in Gifu – Part 1
👉 Related illustrations here
(Free to use)
▶︎ 🎨View illustration page