Maze

Maze district of Gero City is located almost in the center of Gifu Prefecture. Maze is located upstream from the dam. A beautiful stream of the Maze River where young sweetfish swim and spiritually fulfilling life of coexisting with nature have been preserved by local people to this day.

The scenery captivated my soul in a blink of an eye. I drove through a lively town of Gero City on to a narrow road. Before I realize it, I was surrounded by mountains of fresh green, songs of birds, rice fields filled with water and a river. A surprisingly clear river swiftly flows in the center of a quiet farming village, as if it is nothing to be surprised of.
I got off my car without thinking on the riverside and looked down into the deeperthan-blue, emerald green water to find fish vigorously swimming. An image of “live river”, being lost in relation to the improvement of flood controlling technique all over Japan, is right in front of my eyes with such abundance. That alone fulfills me with the joy of being able visit this place.
A village of about 1070 people, Maze area, Gero City, is located upstream of the Maze River, a class A river that runs through the center of Gifu Prefecture. As the village has traditionally been described as “7 Ri*, 10 Villages and 50 Deep River Pools”, there are ten colonies scattered along the basin of ca. 28km South to North. Speaking of “deep river pools”, sweetfish fishing is imperative in talking about Maze. The area is famous for being a spot where the so-called father of sweetfish fishing Fukutaro Yamashita stayed. Not only do many anglers desire to visit, a tradition of Hiburi-ryo fishing is still kept, which is a type of night fishing in autumn chasing with fire the matured sweetfish going down stream to spawn and catch with fishnet.
When the former Maze Village was merged into Gero City in 2004, the whole former village area was designated as “Maze Regional Natural Park”. The activities of village revitalization practiced by the former villagers are on-going in the form of “running the park”, which makes this area a rare case. Also, the area was the first in the region to join “the Most Beautiful Villages in Japan Association” in 2007. Maze Village as a municipality vanished but it still exists as a “natural park” and a “beautiful village”.
There are no traffic lights, convenience stores or super markets in the area. Yet the locals do not mind. It was impressive to hear no complaints because “you go down the mountain, you’ll be in the town.” Every people and the nature I encountered in Maze showed me that there are much more precious things than those in this area.
. 　( *Ri is the traditional Japanese units of measurement. 1 Ri is ca. 4km.)

Interviewed in April, 2021