The path along the Nagara River makes for a nice bike ride.
Earlier this month, Gifu City introduced 20 new electric-powered bikes into their popular rental program. These “Nobunaga Go” bikes were introduced as part of the city’s year-long Lord Nobunaga 450 Project (held in 2017).
Even before the addition of electric bikes, Gifu City’s rental bike project had an unbelievably large fleet of 115 bikes stationed at seven different ports around the city:
1.) JR Gifu South-Entrance (47)
2.) Gifu City Hall (10)
3.) Gifu Park (20)
4.) Nagara River Ukai Museum (20)
5.) Gifu Media Cosmos (5)
6.) Gifu City Nagara River Disaster Prevention and Wellness Station (10)
Bike Pricing is as following (price is for one full-day use):
- Normal Bike: 300 yen
- Electric Assist Bike: 1,000 yen
- Sports Type Bike: 700 yen
Gifu Station Port
Gifu Park Port
You can reach any of Gifu’s sightseeing destinations quite easily with these rental bikes.
Some destinations might include: Gifu Castle, Gifu’s 13.6 meter-tall Great Buddha Statue, and Media Cosmos. There are also maps located at each of the ports that include biking routes to various points of interesting, ranging from eight to 16+ km for those that don’t like planning tours themselves!
When picking up a bike just be prepared to show some form of identification (either an alien residency card, or passport if you are visiting), and make sure to check when the port closes.
Media Cosmos
The Great Buddha Statue
The massive torii gate that leads up to Inaba Shrine
Here are a few rules to remember (even if you see other people breaking them!):
※Ride with traffic, not against it
※When on a sidewalk, pedestrians have the right of way
※Obey traffic signals
Gifu City has a lot of places to visit, and with these rental bikes those of you who also enjoy a bit of exercise can kill two birds with one stone (and at 100 yen it’s practically free!).
For your reference, here is the Japanese website for the program:
http://www.city.gifu.lg.jp/9790.htm
Go Gifu 