There are several theories concerning the origins of Gifu Chochin, but lantern production was already established in the Gifu area by the middle of the Edo period.

According to Gifu City, one traditional account holds that during the Horeki era, from 1751 to 1763, a lantern maker named Juzo produced lanterns in Gifu and supplied them to the Owari domain.

The Gifu region benefited from its proximity to the production area of Mino washi and from access to bamboo and other materials transported through the Nagara River basin. This environment also supported the development of other crafts using washi and bamboo, including Japanese umbrellas and fans.

During the Bunka and Bunsei eras in the early nineteenth century, lanterns decorated with flowers and other painted motifs became increasingly popular. By the Tempo era, from 1830 to 1843, thin-paper lanterns decorated with pictures had come to be known as Gifu Chochin.

During the Meiji period, improvements were made to their forms, designs, and colors, and Gifu Chochin became more widely distributed as souvenirs and decorative goods.

The surikomi method, combining woodblock outlines with stencils for successive colors, also developed into one of the most distinctive decorative techniques of the craft.

As demand increased, production became increasingly specialized. By the early Showa period, records show numerous independent craftspeople working as wooden-ring makers, lacquerers, maki-e decorators, stencil-printing specialists, and lantern-covering specialists.

On April 5, 1995, Gifu Chochin was designated as a Traditional Craft by the Japanese government.

Today, specialist skills in paper preparation, surikomi decoration, freehand painting, lantern-body construction, and woodworking continue to be passed down, supporting production ranging from traditional Bon lanterns to contemporary lighting.

1. 1. Coating Japanese paper The Japanese traditional paper that will be used for this craft is coated with dosa to give it resilience, a glossy appearance, and prevent the smearing of paints during stencilling. Dosa is a mixture of aluminum sulfate and glue that has been simmered in water. Then paper is painted with a base color unless the base color is white.
2. 2. Stenciling During this step, a stenciling specialist draws the design on the Japanese paper used for the hibukuro or the oval-shaped part of a lantern where the paper is pasted. First, a printing block for the outline based on a drawing done by a painter is prepared and the outline is printed. After that, a stencil for coloring is made. Then the stencil is used to apply the main design. This process has to be repeated many times, taking into consideration the color layers and overlapping parts. Each time coloring is done, a new stencil has to be made. So, there are times when over a hundred stencils are made for just one design.
3. 3. Making the guard ring and board The kuchiwa and teita of the lantern are produced in this process. The kuchiwa is a round part attached to the top and the bottom of the lantern while the teita is a flat board for the lantern to hang from. The wood used is Japanese cedar or Japanese cypress. This is a step done by a woodturner, who also makes the legs for ouchiandon, a type of lantern that has tripod legs.
4. 4. Decorating the accessories The kuchiwa, teita, and any tripod legs are decorated with the techniques of maki-e (the application of gold or silver powders onto a lacquer design) and moriage. Moriage or embossing is a technique that leads to a three-dimensional appearance through the use of layers of white pigment to make, for example, a chrysanthemum design.
5. 5. Producing the frame of the lantern Next, the framework of the lantern is made. First, a harikata or lantern frame, is assembled and a basic shape is formed. Thin bamboo sticks are wound in a spiral shape along the fine grooves that have been carved in the lantern frame. It is next to an impossible task to wrap bamboo sticks that are less than a millimeter in diameter around the harikata while maintaining the same amount of tension.
6. 6. Pasting Strings are wound around the back part of the bamboo frame in order to prevent the lantern from stretching out of shape. This process also prevents the pasted paper from being damaged. Next, thin lining paper that is the width of four to five bamboo sticks is pasted on the top and bottom of the lantern. Glue is brushed on the bamboo sticks and the Japanese paper that has been painted already is pasted on every other section divided by the lantern frame. The paper is pasted one sheet at a time in order to make it easier to match any overlaps in the design. Once the paper has been pasted around the lantern, the rest of the paper is pasted while making sure the pattern stays aligned.
7. 7. Seam-cutting After each piece of paper is pasted on the lantern, any remaining part other than the gluing overlap width should be cautiously cut off with a razor. If the overlapping seams between each piece of paper are too thick, the light from the lantern will become uneven so they should be kept as narrow as possible, preferably around a milimeter.
8. 8. Removing the framework from the lantern When the hibukuro is dried, the framework is removed from inside the lantern. Folds are carefully made in the hibukuro with a spatula.
9. 9. Drawing and finishing Differing from stenciling, there is a technique of hand-drawing a design on the hibukuro which uses Japanese-style painting. This is a difficult production step as the colors must be adjusted for any changes that will happen when light shines through from the inside. Also, lots of skills and experience are necessary to draw the same design on multiple lanterns. A Gifu lantern is complete when accessories including kuchiwa, teita and tassels are attached.