On the Nakasendo Way |
Getting There |
Well, here we are in Nakatsugawa,sitting in the shade out the front of our hotel watching several groups of walkers pass by. Our very modern hotel, with its cedar timbers, happens to be right on the route of the very ancient Nakasendo Way. I didn't know that when we booked, but it will be very convenient when we set out tomorrow for our brief exploration of this ancient road between two of old Japan's most important cities, Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. The number of groups that we have observed passing testifies to the popularity of the Nakasendo Way - clearly we will not be alone on the walk. |
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We are sitting out front because we arrived too early for check-in. The trains here are just too efficient. After a long overnight flight from Sydney, we arrived at Haneda Airport in Tokyo around 6am and were through customs by 7.30 am. Then, courtesy of a train shuttle from the airport to Shingawa Station, a 270 kph zoom to Nagoya by shinkansen and a 50 minute ride on a bumpy country train, we reached Nakatsuwaga before 11 am ..... our check-in is a 4 pm!! |
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Still, we could drop our luggage and do a short walk around the streets and canals of the town on a warm and quiet Sunday afternoon, before travel fatigue finally caught up and we sat and waited to be let into the inn. After the long flight and train journeys, we were looking forward to one thing - a soak in the hot baths followed by a cold can of Kirin beer from the foyer vending machine. These are some of the things that we like most about Japan. And now its time for a complementary bowl of broth chazuke in the hotel dining area, followed by bed. |
Day 1 - Nagatsugawa to Tsumago (16.5 km - 590m ascent - 430m descent) |
Having re-aquainted ourselves with the diverse offerings of a Japanese breakfast and left our luggage at the hotel desk to await a transfer onwards to our ryokan in Tsumago,we set out on the trail of the Mino Nakasendo. It was 8am and the air was cool, though the sky was clear with the promise of a beautiful autumn day ahead. |
![]() Heading off through the streets of Nakatsugawa |
![]() Nakasendo manhole cover |
![]() The Nakasendo Way is well signed |
As mentioned before, our hotel was on the route of the Nakasendo, so we turned right from the front door onto the quiet narrow street, speckled with tan and white stones in the asphalt. We soon learned that this surface marked the Old Nakasendo Way. The streets of Nagatsugawa were quiet and we quickly crossed the central part to climb over a small wooded hill and reach the semi-rural outskirts to the north. |
![]() The houses of Ochiai |
![]() Leaving the city behind |
Here, the houses were more scattered with clusters of small rice paddies, while blue-hazed mountains rose to the east, backlit by the morning sun. The area was not so rural as to have no convenience store, so we detoured a hundred metres to call in at the 7-11 and buy our lunch for later on. Japanese convenience stores are very convenient for passing hikers. |
![]() Ochiaijuku Waterfall |
Stocked up, we continued on to cross the Ochiae River on a low footbridge. The landscape was getting more natural and the slope steeper. The first big climb of the day was about to begin. We were still following the speckled surface of the Old Nakasendo Way as we climbed steadily upwards into the bamboo forest, with views opening out over the plain below. |
![]() Start of the original cobbled Nakasendo Way |
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![]() On the 300 year-old cobbled section of the Nakasendo Way |
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Eventually this led us to the beginning of an original 300-year old stone section of the Nakasendo. It was a relief to enter the cool shade of a tall cypress forest, as the stone cobbles led us steadily upwards until they finally ended at a clearing with small farms and rice paddies. The view back over the valley from here was superb. |
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do ancient cobbles remember
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We were now on a quiet country road that wound its way past clusters of traditional cedar houses to reach the old post-town of Magome - heritage listed for its long line of traditional buildings that snaked up a steep hill on either side of the narrow road. The road was car-free, but because Magome is a tourist hotspot, we shared it with a bedlam of tourists. The peace of the Japanese countryside was briefly broken. |
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![]() Climbing up the cobbled streets of Magome |
![]() Heritage houses in Magome |
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After a break, sipping a flat white (the best coffee so far in Japan) and watching the crowds go by, we headed on. After a brief stop on the heights of Magome to take in the glorious view of Mt Ena across the valley, we descended back into the forest. |
![]() Ringing a trackside bear bell |
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![]() Here there be bears! |
The descent was but brief and we soon found ourselves climbing again, criss-crossing roads and streams beneath the forest canopy. According to the signage we were now entering bear country, with bells on the track and occasionally crossing paths with a bell-tinkling hiker. The question is - are bears afraid of the bells or do they see them as an invitation to lunch. None joined us as we took an an early lunch break at a rest area, before pushing on to pass more traditional timber houses and climb steadily up to Magome Pass, at 801m the high point of the day's walk. |
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![]() Watermill north of Magome |
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![]() Village street lined with old cedar buildings |
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From here it was largely downhill and very pleasant in the cool shade of a superb cedar forest. The gravel route descended quickly into the forest, winding it way beneath the canopy to follow the course of a babbling stream downwards into the valley.
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Eventually, we reached a point, where we could make a short detour to visit two beautiful waterfalls, Odaki and Medaki. It was time to take a break next to the babbling stream just to watch the water tumbling over the falls in the sun-dappled forest and contemplate the beauty of this spot. |
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![]() Odaki Waterfall |
![]() The bridge to Odaki |
![]() Medaki Waterfall |
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Zen moment over, we rejoined the main path to continue our journey down through this superb forest to emerge in a narrow valley. It was here that we would spend the night and, a little further on, we found our accommodation. |
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![]() Passing through a small village |
![]() The courtyard of Hanaya Ryokan |
Hanaya Ryokan was a nicely-renovated 300-year old inn and our luggage was there waiting ... an excellent end to an excellent day's walk, made even better by a superb multi-course Japanese dinner. Now if only we were flexible enough to sit comfortably on the tatami mats and eat it from the low dining table, it could have been perfect. |
Day 2 - Tsumago to Nojiri (21 km - 640m ascent - 600m descent) |
We're sitting here in our yukatas, after a restorative soak in the onsen, sipping green tea and listening to the Kiso River rushing by on its rocky bed outside our hotel window .... sounds idyllic, but I think we deserve a bit of luxury as it had been a hard day at the office on the Nakasendo today. |
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We set out at 8am from our ryokan just south of the historic post town of Tsumago and unlike yesterday, we were on a mission as we needed to be at Nojiri, over 20 km down the track, to catch a train at 2.52pm. If we missed it, we would have to wait another 3 hours for the next one. The sky was overcast, but not threatening, as we wandered quickly down a footpath through the forest to cross the road bridge over the fast-flowing Araragi River and refind the Nakasendo Way. A pleasant footpath followed the river down and led us into the narrow street of the old town, lined with the blackened cedar facades of Edo period buildings.
Tsumago was the first post-town restored and is proud of its 300-year old heritage. This early in the morning it was a very quiet tourist town, with barely a person or car to be seen. I suspect that would all change when the tourists began to arrive by mid-morning. |
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Eventually the classic old buildings morphed into newer ones (many still in the traditional style) as we wended our way through the outskirts, beneath shady forest, past temples and shrines to reach Nagiso. Nagiso is a bigger, more industrialised town lacking the charm of Tsumago. However, it did have a 7-11 convenience store, and after passing through the quiet back streets, we made a slight detour to it to buy some lunch for later. |
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![]() One of several shrines before Nagiso |
![]() A well-kept Japanese garden |
![]() View over Nagiso |
From here, the route continued through the quiet back streets of Nagiso, before turning and directly assaulting the steep slope of the valley. Thus began our walk along the Yogawamichi Way, a 14 km long variant that took us deep into the mountains and over a pass to reach Nojiri. |
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It was a fascinating walk, sometimes on the asphalt of a quiet country road, sometimes on steep muddy footpaths that led through the dense forest, a few flats and dips but mostly steadily upwards into the mountains. Alternating between open areas with small farms, their paddy fields and well-maintained vegetable gardens, and the quiet dark ambience of the forest, with its tall trees, bare floor, mossy rocks made for an interesting passage. |
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Almost every time we entered the forest, we passed bear warnings - clearly there must be a few around this area, but apart from the drawings on the signs, we saw no trace ..... probably a good thing though everyone wants to see a bear in the wild. |
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![]() The Yokawa River passing through the forest |
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Eventually, the route met up with the Yokawa River, and we began to follow its course up the narrow valley. A slight detour along the main road to avoid I don't know what (a landslip or a bear, perhaps), we rejoined the track on its narrow footpath, passing more farmlets and climbing up through bamboo forest on a damp wooden boardwalk.
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One more bridge across the Yokawa River and the track turned northwards, heading steeply up towards Nenouetoge Pass. At first we wound our way up through bamboo forest, then followed a small babbling stream up its deep gully beneath the tall cedars to finally make one last steep climb up to the pass. |
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![]() Small farms in the Yokawa Valley |
![]() Heading toward the Nenoutoge Pass |
It had been the best part of the walk so far, which made the pass itself disappointing - we had anticipated having our lunch there looking out over a magnificent view of Kiso Valley below. Unfortunately, there was no view, just more tall trees, and no lunch spot ... nowhere to sit other than on the wet ground or the asphalt of the road that crossed the pass at the same point and headed on down to Nojiri, our end point for the day. |
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![]() The track up to Nenoutoge Pass .... |
![]() ... beneath tall forest .... |
![]() .... and alongside mountain streams |
This road wound its way down the steep western flank of the pass and, for the most part, the Nakasendo Way took to the road. It was an anticlimactic descent, apart from a small and lovely section of footpath along another babbling stream that cut off one dog-leg. |
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![]() Fungi of the ..... |
![]() .... Nenoutoge forest |
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We ended up having a very late lunch in a small park just next to the railway station at Nojiri, a very quiet town surrounded by the steep green-clad hills that contain the Kiso Valley. With over 20km in fairly quick time and a lot of climbing behind us, our legs and feet were a bit track-weary. Still, we had arrived over an hour before the local train to Kiso-Fukushima pulled in. Along with quite a few other Nakasendo walkers that had bunched up here, we boarded the train and headed to Kiso, one of the larger towns in the valley and site of our accommodation for the night. |
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So here we are ... sipping green tea, admiring our surrounds as the sky slowly darkens and thinking what another great day of walking it's been on the Nakasendo Way. |
Day 3 - Yabuhara to Narai-juku (8.5 km - 310m ascent - 300m descent) |
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Here we are waiting at the Kiso-Fukushima train station with around 80 other walkers for the train to Yabuhara, where our planned walk starts. It is a well known stage of the Nakasendo across the Torii Pass and clearly lots of independent walkers and guided groups plan to do it today. It was a lesson in how popular this trail has become. The dynamics of walking the Nakasendo are interesting. Pretty much everyone walks west to east and, on the first day, we set out early and walked alone for much of the time before crossing paths with several groups and solitary walkers, including a "small world" type encounter with one of the fair Nello's walking friends from Canberra. On the second day, we took the lesser trodden path and encountered only one other couple on the whole trip. However, the end point was Nojiri train station and by the time the train left, quite a few walkers had bunched up. Today was the other extreme, with the bunch forming at the start. |
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When we alighted in Yabuhara, we waited at the station for a while to let the big groups get ahead - call me antisocial, but it is nicer to feel a little bit alone on the track. Leaving the station, we wended our way through the streets of Yabuhara. It was 9.30 am and the silence was almost surreal - not a car, not a person out on the street. We had noticed this passing through other towns early in the morning. |
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![]() Wandering down the main steet of Yabuhara |
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![]() View from Yabuhara railway crossing |
Finally, the street route began to ascend and gave way to a stone foot path that marked the beginning of the real climb up into the forest towards the Torii Pass. It was nice not walking on asphalt as the track soon turned into a soft earth path that took us ever upwards on the steep slope in a series of long zig-zags. The forest, with its canopy of cedar, horse chestnuts and other broad-leaf trees, was beautiful, but the sweat was soon dripping off my face in the humidity. |
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![]() Back into the forest on the Nakasendo Way |
![]() Modern Nakasendo waymarker |
![]() Route up to the Torii Pass |
A climb like the Torii Pass soon sorts out the peloton - a bit like the Tour de France. Still, everyone made it to the top to be rewarded by the superb Ontake-jinja Shrine, with its white Torii Gate, wooden temple and stone statuary set amongst the cedars. |
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After a visit to the shrine and a rest stop to cool down a bit, we headed on. The track flattened as it passed beneath patches of yellow autumn leaves (our first sighting on this trip to chase the autumn colours). We reached the pass itself and began the long and winding descent of its eastern flank. The forest was again superb, as we wound our way down, crossing small but deep streams as we went, to reach the outskirts of Narai-juku.
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Narai-juku is another post town from the Edo period. Our first encounter was with the Shizume-jinja Shrine and its red-lacquered Torii Gate, before looking down the long main street of Narai, lined with 300-year old blackened cedar buildings. It was pleasant to wander down this strip of living Japanese history, even if the promised light showers had arrived. |
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A bonus to our trip was the unexpected arrival of a long line of vintage cars, ranging from a 1927 Bugatti to a 1970 MG, taking part in the 2024 Nippon Rally. A bit of street food for lunch, a visit to a 300-year old wooden Kiso-no-ohashi Bridge, some more leisurely strolling to look at the lacquerware and carved timber in the shops and it was time to head for the station and catch the train back to our hotel at Kiso-Fukishima. |
![]() The Kiso River at Kiso-Fukishima |
![]() Kiso Valley sunset |
It had been a shorter day of walking, but that gave us the chance to better explore one of the post towns of the Nakasendo - a great way to finish our short time on this historic route in Japan. |