Naokichi

Naokichi is a small breakfast specialist in Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture, opening only in the early morning hours on weekdays and drawing a loyal clientele of local office workers and residents who regard the traditional Japanese breakfast set as a satisfying start to the working day. The restaurant's signature item is a teishoku (set meal) comprising a piece of grilled salt mackerel or simmered seasonal fish, a bowl of steamed white rice, a deep red miso soup made in the Nagoya-Gifu style using hatcho or Hida red miso with cubed tofu and wakame seaweed, and two or three varieties of tsukemono pickles. This composition, unchanged in its essential structure for decades, reflects the dietary habits of central Japan's inland cities, where proximity to preserved coastal products makes salt-treated fish the morning protein of choice. The red miso soup — an influence that spreads from Nagoya into neighbouring Gifu Prefecture — is noticeably deeper in colour and earthier in flavour than the white miso more common in Tokyo or Kyoto, and ordering it separately at ¥350 has become a small attraction for visitors curious about regional miso variation. The dining room is extremely small — fewer than fifteen covers — and the weekday-only hours end at 11:00, making this strictly a breakfast destination. The restaurant's consistent regulars and the quiet efficiency of the service create an atmosphere that feels entirely removed from tourist Gifu, offering a more honest window into how residents of the city begin their day. The Kohate-cho address is within fifteen minutes of Gifu Station on foot.