Historical route
Through the central mountains of the Honshu island runs the Nakasendo Trail. It is one of the five main routes built in feudal time (1603-1868). The route connected Edo (now Tokyo) to Kyoto, and travelers could settle in one of the 69 staging points (Shukuba) along the way. Parts of this historic route have been well preserved and restored to their former glory.
Staging points like Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku breathe history, and take you back in time. The main streets are paved with cobblestones, on both sides are Machiya houses with beautiful wooden façades, which are only illuminated in the evening by paper lanterns. You will walk past a chain of teahouses, restaurants, shops, workshops for old crafts and traditional family hotels (Minshuku).
Between Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku, the Nakasendo Trail crosses the Kiso Valley,where the landscape is particularly varied. You will pass villages surrounded by rice paddies, tea plantations and small fields, as well as forests with imposing cedar trees and bamboo forest chages, streams and waterfalls.
