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Photo: Miyuki Meinaka, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A traditional village with thatched-roof gasshō-zukuri (shaped like hands in prayer) houses. At least one house is authentic, having been constructed in Shirakawa-go in the mid-1800s, and later relocated here to escape being submerged behind a dam. Paint pottery and make paper yourself, and they will mail your handiwork back to you for a fee. There are displays of traditional festivals, and a museum of guardian-dog statues (狛犬 koma-inu) used at shrines. Nourish your body with local specialties from the restaurant, your feet by soaking in the footbath, and your inner child by riding the roller slide.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
湯のまち雨情公園 Yu-no-machi Ujō Kōen
Much prettier than the so-called park surrounding the Hida River, this park has a lovely 500-meter walk along a tributary landscaped into a ladder waterfall, with sculptures and memorials.
森八幡神社
チャップリン像 Chappurin-zō
The American silent film star visited Gifu Prefecture twice in the 1930s, where he saw cormorant fishing (鵜飼 ukai, quite literally using birds to catch fish), which he described as "Japan's highest art form", but his time was all spent in Gifu where the fishing occurs. He never visited Gero, so this is not a commemorative statue as some may assume. Instead, it was made in 2001 as the first statue among many to feature famous Hollywood stars to "make a 'movie street' where tourists can walk around the hot springs while talking about movies". The project was abandoned however, leaving Chaplin here as the only statue to actually be produced.
温泉寺
This temple is strongly connected to the town's history. In 1265, an earthquake destroyed the town and caused the hot springs to dry up. According to legend, a white heron led villagers to a new source of hot water. The villagers built the temple in thanks, and the heron can be seen on the town's manhole covers.
下呂ふるさと歴史記念館
A museum showcasing the archaeological findings from throughout Gero City from the Jomon and Yayoi Periods all the way to the 20th century. Outside the building are recreated Jomon Period houses.
温泉博物館 Onsen Hakubutsukan
Small museum with hot spring paraphanalia dating back to the Edo period, samples of water from hot springs around Japan, and some simple experiments you can perform using Gero hot spring water.