Reversible Destiny at Yoro & Ogaki

What?
Yoro Park offers various attractions like a strange art-theme park, a kid’s theme park, a golf course and a waterfall and is easily reached from Ogaki (大垣). Ogaki is a fairly big city and is most famous for its castle and as the last stop of poet Matsuo Basho on one of his many journeys.
Where?
Ogaki is located in Gifu Prefecture (岐阜県) and is a 12 minute train ride away from Gifu City, the prefectural capital. From Nagoya it takes a little more than half an hour to get there. Yoro Park is located in Yoro Town which is connected with Ogaki by the Yoro Railway.
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Tofugu Visit Gifu

Stepping off the train at Yoro Station, it is immediately clear that this is a sleepy town. On a sunny Saturday, the investments that have been done in the whole Yoro Park should pay off by streams of money-spending visitors. However strolling by the children’s playground and the eerie Yoro Land kid’s theme park, I did not hear children’s laughter but instead instrumental versions of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called…” through cracking loudspeakers. The way it looked, it will not be long before Yoro Land will be a favorite destination of urbex explorers.

On the opposite side of Yoro Land there is the quirky "Site of Reversible Destiny" (養老天命反転地). This park was designed by artists Shusaku Arakawa and Madeline Gins. The thought is that humans can escape their destiny of death by letting go of all accepted conventions and starting to see things in a different light, from a different perspective. I won’t take part in the discussion whether this way of thinking allows us to live eternally, but I can say that they succeeded in letting the visitor of the park rethink the common things around us. Paths are not paths, furniture is placed on the ceiling, long roads lead to no point at all, etc.
I had a very good time here and the site is truly entertaining. This is fun for both kids as adults, and it is certainly worth to pay a visit if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary. The park could definitely use a clean-up, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from experiencing the artists funky visions in real life.

Located a few kilometers towards the mountains, the 32 meters high Yoro fall is one of Japan’s 100 best and reminds me a lot of Osaka’s Mino waterfall. You follow a river for quite a while on a paved path dotted with old souvenir shops and small eateries. Also the height and looks of the waterfall are almost identical to that in Mino. It makes me wonder whether Yoro Falls too is actually kept alive artificially.

Maybe the waterfall is an sich not enough to justify a trip to the Yoro Park, but in combination with the awesome Site of Reversible Destiny I was glad I took the trip. If I wasn’t alone, maybe I could also have enjoyed a game of putter golf. Just to say: there are a bunch of things to keep you busy.

Critical Resemblance House at Site of Reversible Destiny.

Various strange artwork in this big bowl wonderland.

Zone of Clearest Confusion.

I couldn't take a straight picture.

Training back to Ogaki I visited the Ogaki Castle. It’s a 10 minute walk from the station, and while a bit hidden behind ugly grey concrete buildings, it’s fairly enchanting for its small size. Of course, the first signs of spring made a lot of people gather at the castle park which might have influenced my way of looking at things. Within the castle there are the usual exhibits of samurai armor and weapons, but it’s all still very acceptable, especially for 150 yen. This includes a visit to the nearby Ogaki Museum of Local History, but this place has a lot less to offer and shouldn’t be part of your itinerary.

As I had a little time left I decided to take the bus to Sunomata Ichiya Castle, also located in Ogaki but a 25 minute ride away. Legend says it was built overnight, which is reflected in the “Ichiya” part of the name which literally means “1 night”. It is supposed to be beautiful during the few days that the cherry blossoms are in bloom, but as it was a bit too early I knew I wouldn’t see them. And I never will because bluntly said, this castle has nothing to offer. Yes, the keep is fairly well reconstructed on the outside and it has 2 nice looking bridges. But the keep is also surrounding by a moat that has 2 big ugly weirs and a very noisy expressway. And I’m not even talking about the 3rd weir that they are building just 1 single meter next to the entrance of the castle. Also inside the keep the reconstruction looks like a shady office building built in the 70’s (apart from the beautiful decorations in place for the Hina Matsuri). So I took the tour, and quickly went back the way I came.
It was an unfortunate closer of an otherwise great day, because I will definitely be remembering the Site of Reversible Destiny for a long time.