We went to Gifu for sightseeing and stayed one night at Shin-Hodaka hot springs in Hida area last weekend. We headed to Minokamo on Saturday morning by car and visited Yamazaki Mazak museum of machine tools. This museum is operated by Japanese Yamazaki Mazak company which is maker of mother machines, like a turning machine, milling machine and drilling machine. You can learn about the history, roles of mother machines and how the machines work. We had a really good time there, because it was a good opportunity to learn about mother machines. After the museum, we headed to Shin-Hodaka hot springs which is located in the north of Gifu prefecture. These hot springs are surround by many high mountains covered with snow and contain a lot of natural minerals. It's my favorite hot springs and we took a bath four times in one night.
It was a fine day on Sunday morning and really comfortable weather in Shin-Hodaka. After breakfast, we headed to Kamioka town and joined a rail bike tour there. In Kamioka town, there was once a railway line, but this railway was closed in 2004, due to motorization and declining population. The rail bike started in 2007 for sightseeing and became very popular not only for domestic people, but also foreigners now. We boarded an electric-assisted bike for two persons and cycled about 3 km in 20 minutes and looked around the railway car repair shop for about 1 hour. The rail bike was a lot of fun, because we could enjoy very beautiful scenic mountains and river, boarding bike and learning the history of Kamioka town. I’d like to visit again and try other tours someday.
