How Do You Get to Gujo Hachiman by Train, Bus and Car?

Published 2026-10-04 · Sources checked 2026-10-04 · Treasure Hunting Co., Ltd.

This guide is for visitors who want to reach Gujo Hachiman, the castle town in the middle of Gifu Prefecture, and choose between the local railway, a highway bus and a car. It uses the access pages of the Gujo Hachiman tourist site, which are in Japanese, and four English pages of the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). All pages were read on 2026-10-04.

The Japanese access pages were read and summarised here in English. Timetables and fares are not on the pages used, so check them with the operators.

The short answer

The tourist site says Gujo Hachiman is about one hour from Nagoya, Takayama, Gifu and Gero. The main ways in are the Nagaragawa Railway, highway buses and the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway.

By train

The access page gives the railway route in steps. From Gifu Station you take the JR Takayama Line for about 30 minutes to Mino-Ota Station, change there, and ride the Nagaragawa Railway for about 80 minutes to Gujo-Hachiman Station. From Nagoya Station the page lists the JR limited express Wide View Hida, about 40 minutes to Mino-Ota, and then the same railway. For visitors from the Kansai direction it adds the Nozomi shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Nagoya, about 50 minutes, and from Tokyo it gives about 105 minutes by Nozomi to Nagoya, followed by the same changes.

JNTO's page on the Gujo Odori festival gives the first leg from Gifu to Mino-Ota as about 35 minutes, where the tourist site says about 30 minutes. The two pages differ slightly, so check the day's timetable.

The tourist site also says a one-day coupon for the Nagaragawa Railway is sold as a smartphone ticket. The coupon covers unlimited rides between Mino-Ota and Gujo-Hachiman stations for one day, and the site says it also includes admission tickets for the town's museum and castle.

JNTO's page on a local tour gives another route from Nagoya. Take the JR Tokaido Main Line to Gifu Station, about 20 minutes, then the Gifu Bus Express Gifu-Hachiman Line to Gujo-Hachiman Station, and the Nagaragawa Railway toward Mino-Shiratori for the tour's start. JNTO's page on indigo dyeing gives about 1 hour 40 minutes by shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya before the same change at Gifu.

By highway bus

The tourist site lists several bus routes. From Gifu it names the Gifu Bus highway Hachiman line, which leaves from JR Gifu Station and Meitetsu Gifu Station. From Takayama it names two lines of Nohi Bus, one to Nagoya and one to Kyoto and Osaka. From Shirakawa-go it names the Gifu Bus highway Shirakawa-go line. From Nagoya it lists Nohi Bus, a Gifu Bus line from Nagoya and a third operator's service toward Takayama.

JNTO's festival page says most highway buses from Nagoya and Gifu stop at Gujo-Hachiman Inter and a smaller number stop at Gujo-Hachiman Jokamachi Plaza, which it calls the more convenient stop. JNTO's page on indigo dyeing gives a bus ride of about one hour and 10 minutes from Gifu Station to Jokamachi Plaza. JNTO's page on a local tour gives about 1 hour and 20 minutes on the Gifu Bus Express Gifu-Hachiman Line from the north exit of Gifu Station to Gujo-Hachiman Station. The two times are for different end points.

By car

The tourist site gives routes by direction, and every one ends at Gujo-Hachiman IC on the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway. From Nagoya you take the Nagoya Expressway or the Tomei Expressway to the Meishin Expressway, then the Ichinomiya junction onto the Tokai-Hokuriku. From the Kansai direction you join at the same Ichinomiya junction. From Kanto it names the Tomei Expressway to the Toyota junction, then the Tokai-Kanjo Expressway. From Hokuriku it names the Hokuriku Expressway to the Oyabe-Tonami junction. From Nagano it names the Chuo Expressway to the Toki junction.

Getting around once you arrive

JNTO's cycling page describes a 22-kilometre bicycle tour that starts from Gujo-Hachiman Station of the Nagaragawa Railway, and says the station is about a one-minute walk from the Hachiman Eki-mae bus stop. The related guide on things to do has more.

What we could not verify, and therefore left out

• Bus and railway timetables, fares and which services run today.
• Whether the one-day coupon is on sale now and its price.
• Parking places in the castle town, which the access pages do not describe.

Related guides

• What Is Gujo Odori? The 400-Year-Old Dance Festival and How to Join In
• What Can You Do in Gujo Hachiman? Indigo Dyeing, Cycling and Otaki Cave

Sources

All URLs retrieved 2026-10-04.

1. Getting to Gujo Hachiman by train (in Japanese) — (railway steps, Nozomi and limited express times)
2. Getting to Gujo Hachiman by highway bus (in Japanese) — (bus lines by direction)
3. Getting to Gujo Hachiman by car (in Japanese) — (routes to Gujo-Hachiman IC)
4. Gujo Hachiman tourist site top page (in Japanese) — (one hour from Nagoya, Takayama, Gifu and Gero; one-day coupon)
5. Gujo Odori Festival (JNTO) — (train and bus stops)
6. Dye Clothes "Japan Blue" in a Castle Town (JNTO) — (bus to Jokamachi Plaza)
7. Experience Gujo Like a Local (JNTO) — (Gifu Bus Express line)
8. A Beautiful Cycling Experience Along One of Japan's Clearest Rivers (JNTO) — (22-kilometre tour, station and bus stop)