The Twin Arch is one of the most recognizable landmarks from the highway leading out of Gifu in the south. It was one of the first things I noticed after arriving in Gifu for the first time eleven years ago, and after all this time, I finally went there to see it in person.
I always associate the arches with South Gifu, but technically, they're in northern Aichi, just on the other side of the Kiso river that separates the two prefectures.
I brought my Gameboy Camera along with to take some photos.
The Twin Arch is at the front of a long beautiful park with flower fields and walking trails through the forest. In January, they have a marathons that runs through the trails of the park. There's an auditorium, too, which was being used for a musical festival when I arrived.
But, the true treasure of the park is the 360 degree view from the observation deck nearly 100 meters above ground. You have a clear view of southern Gifu to the north and northern Aichi to the south.
The weather was absolutely perfect when I visited. Absolutely clear skies all around. You could see an incredible distance unobstructed by clouds or water vapor.
Nagoya was in clear view to the south. The lens on my Gameboy Camera was able to capture it nearly perfectly, too.
The camera sensor has about a 1-second refresh rate, so it's very difficult to get a significant amount of detail. There are only 4 colors, too, so that's also a problem. But, as long as I'm able to prop the camera up against the glass or some solid surface, it's stable enough to take a photo without blur. Above is a stitched together image from 4 shots.
Mt. Ontake and Mt. Norikura to the north were clearly visible, too. It's pretty amazing how far you're able to see when the weather is so clear. Mt. Norikura is the eastern-most mountain in Takayama that borders Nagano. Takayama is about 80km north from the Twin Arch, and Norikura is about 50km directly east from there.
Mt. Ontake is the one bigger one on the right. Mt. Norikura is on the left. It's pretty amazing that the GB Camera can get so much detail out of something that is over 60km away.
The Twin Arch is really the only landmark around the area, so you have an impressive view of suburbs after suburbs after suburbs. The view is amazing, especially on such a great day, but there isn't really a whole lot to see. There's the ferris wheel to the north next to the aquarium, but that's really the closest thing. Both Nagoya and Gifu City are so far away, you can't really get any detail other than the skyline.
I wanted to get some more detailed shots with both my regular camera and my GameBoy camera, so I shot a massive panoramic photo of the north with some detailed GB shots.
Can you find the three locations of the GB shots in the panoramic?
I love this GameBoy Camera so much. I'm using the GameBoy Camera Plus mod created by 2BitToy, which takes the inner circuits from a GameBoy Camera and puts them into a new shell with a CS Mount lens adapter. This allows you to use far more powerful lenses than the original. You can read about it here: /pocket-camera-with-zoom-lens (April 13th, 2023). I'm using my Analogue Pocket to run it.
Also in the observation deck is a small cafe. Its signature dish was called Honey Toast. As you can see from the photo below, it is a slice of very sweet toast topped with vanilla ice cream and whip cream, drizzled with chocolate syrup surrounded by almonds and sliced strawberries. It was an excellent breakfast.
I think it'd be great to visit in other seasons to see how everything changes. It'd also be great to visit during the summer to get a semi-aerial view of fireworks in the distance. Maybe also great to visit during a sunset. But, I kinda feel like this is a one-time visit kinda place. I think I've seen it all.
Here's a scan of the pamphlet: Twin Arch 138 Pamphlet