GIFU, a city of Japan, capital of the ken (government) of Central Japan, which comprises the two provinces of Mino and Hida. Pop. c. Ioo,000. It lies E. by N. of Lake Biwa, on the Cen tral railway, on a tributary of the river Kiso, which flows to the Bay of Miya Uro. The ken has an area of about 4,000 sq.m., and is thickly peopled, the population exceeding i,000,000. The chief industries are silk and paper goods.