[Gifu / Gifu Station] Walking the Night District — Nobunaga Plaza and Station Alleys
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Visited: Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Photos and text reflect that night.
I stopped by during a week-long photography trip through the Tokai region. Gifu City’s population is 400,937 (as of January 1, 2024). My last visit was autumn 2021 — the station area had stayed lively even under COVID restrictions — so this was a return after more than two years. Sometime after 7 p.m. I left the concourse for the north-side plaza.
Different weekday, imperfect weather, yet the bustle didn’t feel much changed. In winter Gifu wraps whole stretches of the city in illumination — station trees wound with bulbs, blue wash on the stone, colored orbs around the gold Oda Nobunaga statue. Past the bus bays and the Gifu Bus counter, the sidewalk leans toward Kandamachi. This time I worked the alleys in detail, looped the izakaya lanes, then drifted back under the big glass canopy by Loft.
As of writing, the north side of Gifu Station is under redevelopment. Many of the buildings in these frames have since been vacated, so the shopfronts and street face from that February night are already changing. The photos stay as a record of February 2024.
Around the Station
Glass doors between round columns. Tactile paving cuts diagonally across dark tiles; inside, a bright checkered floor. Someone with a backpack walks in. That’s where the walk starts.
Blue light on the paving. Bare trees wound with yellow LEDs; multicolored spheres clustered mid-plaza. Behind them, the gold figure on its pedestal — a winter station-front set piece.
Bellmart glows on the right; a red “4” marks a bay on the left. A lit tree stands in the middle of the path. People in coats wait for buses between the station and the terminal.
岐阜バス in red above the glass. A white banner for 神田町 hangs from a pillar. A red-striped bus sits on the roadway; a few walkers follow the tactile strip under the canopy.
岐阜駅前 on the canopy. A cluster in dark suits crosses toward the camera. Beyond them, a bright pink clinic board and a parking sign with a red Beetle — the main station-front zebra.
Yellow Hoppy crates and wooden menus on the left; 案内所 / INFORMATION on the right. A blue garland of lights arcs overhead. Suit backs disappear down the brick lane — into the station-front drinking strip.
ヤキニク ぼんず on a blue board with white lanterns. A man with a bag walks the center of the brick path; a few people chat by the entrance. Yellow rails fence a small parking lot on the left.
Soft blue strings cross the road. A curved glass shop window on the left; brick facade on the right. A couple walks toward the next junction. Quieter than the bar lanes — more boutique than izakaya.
A red DART & BAR TIA board on the left. Hexagonal stones stretch ahead; four people walk in a line. A tall white kanji sign and a parked bike on the right. Shop light spills into a tight alley.
A flower pattern in the yellow tiles. An orange oil-soba board and a white chochin on the left. Two figures walk the covered path; a low rail and planting strip on the right.
Yellow Loft on the left. A white lattice canopy spans the plaza. A wide zebra fills the foreground; one car, a few silhouettes under the glass. Back toward the station block.
A thick white column and glass doors. The tactile strip runs straight; two people — beige jacket, black jacket — walk away. Bus lights slide along the road to the right.
Tactile paving aims at the zebra. A bag-carrying silhouette faces a red walk signal. Station light and bus bays glow beyond the asphalt.
A red “5” boarding sign. People move under heavy pillars; a red-striped bus waits on the right. Blue overhead boards ahead, fairy-lit trees farther out. The night walk pauses here, back in the station bus space.
Walking Video Around Gifu Station
The full walk is available on The Street Archive | MACHIDORI. Consider subscribing to The Street Archive | MACHIDORI YouTube channel.
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