Gero City

A cliff near the end of a lava flow.

Gandate, columnar-joint cliff

Photo by Opqr (CC BY-SA 3.0)

01 ／ Gero stone

Gero stone was a tool material from about the Paleolithic.It has been found in the Kanto, Kinki and Hokuriku regions too.

下呂石製小型縦長剝片（直接打撃）と石核（実験）.jpg — Photo by Dai Naka (CC0)

The lava of Mount Yugamine, which erupted about 100,000 years ago, includes black, glassy rock that was used for tools such as arrowheads. It is called Gero stone (Yugamine rhyolite). Near Jomon Park, at the foot of a bridge, stands a monument about 3 m high that shows an arrowhead in blocks of Gero stone.

Mount Yugamine erupted about 100,000 years ago
Tool material from about the Paleolithic
Monument about 3 m high

02 ／ Kato Somo

A haiku poet who went as a cook with the mission to the United Stateswrote down what he saw in diaries, poems and paintings.

加藤素毛記念館.jpg — Photo by 運動会プロテインパワー (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Kato Somo, a haiku poet born the son of a village headman at Shimohara Village (now in Kanayama), sailed in 1860 with the shogunate's mission to the United States aboard the U.S. warship Powhatan. The city records that Somo, who went as a cook, wrote down what he saw in diaries, waka, haiku and paintings. His belongings are a prefectural Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property.

Joined the 1860 mission to the United States
Belongings designated by the prefecture, 1973
Diaries, waka, haiku and paintings

03 ／ Hot spring management

So the water would not run short, since 1974seven tanks have managed it together.

As visitors surged in the 1960s, each facility used its own spring and the hot water quickly ran short. Since 1974 the hot springs have been managed by a centralized tank system: seven tanks of 200 to 300 tons, more than 10 km of piping, and 12 springs. Residents, too, can take hot water home from the nearest tank for a small fee.

Centralized management since 1974
Seven tanks, 12 springs
100+ residents use it daily

Living here

91 minutes to Nagoya by limited express; about 90% forest.

about 30,000 people
2 hours to a city centre

Gero was formed in 2004 by the merger of five towns and villages of Masuda District: Hagiwara, Kosaka, Gero, Kanayama and Mase. About 90% of its area is forest. The Hida River flows south through the middle of the city, with the JR Takayama Line alongside. The limited express Hida takes 91 minutes to Nagoya and 211 minutes to Osaka. The gateway is Gero Station on the JR Takayama Line.

People living here: 30,428people
Area: 851.21km²
Households: 11,686households
Rent (average for rentals): 29,214yen
Healthcare: 3 hospitals ／ 27 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Children waiting for childcare: —9 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Gero City in Japan35.806°N 137.244°E

to NagoyaLtd. exp. Hida91min
to OsakaLtd. exp. Hida211min

Travel times follow JR西日本『JRおでかけネット』区間時刻表（timetable.jr-odekake.net）。①line-timetable/2363『高山本線（名古屋／岐阜～高山）下り』（名古屋・下呂の時刻と始発〈大阪〉の列）、②line-timetable/2364『高山本線（高山～岐阜／名古屋）上り』（下呂の発時刻・名古屋着・終着〈大阪〉）。ページの日付は 2026-10-15（木）・10-16・10-17（土）・10-18（日）・10-19〜22・11-03（祝）・11-25・12-24・12-31 の各日を取り、**特急の『運転日注意』欄が空の列車だけ**を『毎日乗れる定期便』として数えた（10-17・18の『◆』印の列車〔8081D・8083D・8082D・8084D〕は土休日の臨時として外した）。2027年の日付は時刻表がまだ出ていない（表が空） (checked 2026-10-15). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 8 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Gero City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

46.3km

Gifu Prefecture: 高山市, 郡上市, 白川町, 関市, 中津川市, 七宗町
Nagano Prefecture: 王滝村, 木曽町

Gero City isthis kind of town.

01Gandate in Kosaka is a cliff of columnar joints that developed near the end of a lava flow from the early activity of Mount Ontake, which ran down along the Nigorigo River valley, and is a prefectural natural monument (1957)
02Gero stone, a black glassy rock in the lava of Mount Yugamine, was a tool material from about the Paleolithic, and the hot springs have been managed by a centralized tank system since 1974
03In Kanayama are the belongings of the haiku poet Kato Somo, who joined the 1860 mission to the United States, held as a prefectural Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property, and at Kadowasa stands Hakuunza, a national Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property stage

See the town as it is now.

Instagram@gerostagram ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Gero City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗