Having lived in Gifu city for three years, I've come to appreciate the wonderful traditions in the area; one that I particularly enjoy is the yearly Gifu Plum Festival (岐阜梅まつり) at Bairin Park (梅林公園).

I don't know what to say, except that the park is "replete" with plum. With some 1,300 trees in 50 different varieties, the symphony of delicate blossoms is a joy to behold. And when you're done taking it all in, you can incline your nose toward a low hanging branch and get a whiff of the sweet, plumy fragrance.

But that isn't all. During the festival, there is of course, festival food. All the usual vendors take their place. Here we have taiyaki (sweet bean filled waffle in the shape of a lucky fish), yakisoba (fried noodles), takoyaki (octopus fritters), candied apples and strawberries, baked potatoes, fries, okonomiyaki (Japanese-style savory pancake), kushiyaki (deep-fried pork on skewers), and the more I write the more I remember, so I better draw the line here. I'll just end the "food" section by saying that according to some friends who also visited that day, there was a place to try fresh plum juice! Ahhh. If only I'd known.

There are even games for the kids. I saw a lot of children playing with Chinese tops (provided by a participating society that I cannot remember the name of), which are operated by balancing the top on a string and pulling the two ends back and forth. An old locomotive engine is open for viewing and it's interesting to climb inside and see how coal was once used to run trains.

Other festival attractions include, taiko drum and musical performances on the lawn, a flee market, and rickshaw rides for just ￥500.

Even though the festival is just for two days, the plum blossoms are still visible through the month of March. As stated above, there are many different varieties, so some will inevitably be finished blooming, some will be mid-bloom, and some may be just beginning to bud (depending on the season).

At any rate, there's nothing better to take the edge off a cold winter than a romp in the park under the plum blossoms, especially if the weather is fine. So don't miss the best of the season, here in Gifu Prefecture at Bairin Park.

For access and related info see:
The Gifu Convention and Visitor's Bureau

-Webmaster2010

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