Nakasendo Trail

 The second half of 2024 gave me an opportunity to visit Japan again. Mabuhay miles had a half the miles promo and it was too good to pass up. It’s always exciting to go to Japan again. We hurriedly picked a random city to fly into and we picked NAGOYA. (We always fly yo Osaka and Tokyo and it seemed a good idea to go somewhere else for a change)

I think one of the things about aging is that you need more help. (And I was getting bogged down by all the research I need to do for trips since as usual, I am the main planner/ guide)… so hello ChatGPT.

It was really easy actually and honestly speaking it helped me reduce the amount of research by just asking ChatGPT to make me a rough itinerary and I just tweaked it a little to our preferences.

So, one of the adventures in the list is the NAKASENDO TRAIL. I haven’t really heard about this before chatgpt suggested it. It is the route taken by the samurai to Tokyo that stretches from Kyoto and has 69 resting spots for travelers called POST towns. In addition to Tokyo and Kyoto, the Nakasendō runs through the modern-day prefectures of Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Gifu and Shiga, with a total distance of about 534 km (332 mi).

It can be considered like the highway of the Edo period. Aside from making the local shogun travel every year to pay homage to the emperor (which entails several days traveling this route), it limits the powers of these local shoguns by making them spend money (of course) for the travel and in turn also giving the local towns income from all the travelers passing through.

We travelled from TSUMAGO to MAGOME - a total of 8km. Through beautiful forests.

We opted to book a tour in GET YOUR GUiDE app (viator has it too) or since we know the company already.. you can book direct to SNOW MONKEY RESORTS - a travel agency

We were met at the Nagano train station by our guide Shawn. (An American working in Japan) and we were told we were the only ones joining the tour that day. Whoopee… lucky us! Turned into a private tour. 

Local snack made of rice and smothered in soy sauce. Overall… just ok.

Huge persimmon!

We were dropped off by our personal van (3 hours drive from nagano) to TSUMAGO. Our start off point. We walked through the post town looking at local inns that were preserved. I even had a chance to visit the local post office and shrine to get my stamps for my stamp book

Local shrine

Monk with baby

Funny thing about the shrine is that the monk had a baby!!! I didn’t know they could do that. Our guide said that usually the role of taking care of the temple is passed down, so the monks are allowed to get married and have kids… who knew???

Local post office. I just saw the post office sign

It’s just amazing that they preserved the towns as is, some of them 100-300 years old.

Cypress “union” tree… two trees become one…
So we had to do the fusion pose.

We passed by two waterfalls also, one male and one female… (see sign that has “male “ and “female” in chinese characters)

I would say the bigger one was female but I was wrong. Haha

The paths would up and down… with some parts crossing the highway. We met a lot of hikers too but not too much that it felt crowded. The beauty of this trail is that it’s still not touristy like if you go to Kyoto. 

You can still feel the stillness of the woods

Local tea house with free tea, we ate our packed lunch here

We also had a packed lunch we bought on our stopover at 7-11. there are very little food options on the trail and it’s better to bring a snack with you. The temperature was nice. About 17C and I had to take off my over shirt in the middle because it got so hot. (Don’t go in the summer for sure it’s hotter). For us the temperature was dry and cool and very good for hiking.

Local info board when entering a town. You can see general info and “wanted” people

You can nearly see the writing on the wall of this info board. (It’s still the original writing). 

We shared a wagyu sushi with our guide and got some chestnut ice cream ( a local specialty). It tasted like potato. 

We also got a peek at the sculptures of an eccentric local… who I think has a predilection to nudes

You see the boobs sculpture?

Happy tree

The 8km such a joy to walk through. The beautiful nature everywhere! We ended in MAGOME and browsed the shops (specialties were wood products… but I found them a bit pricey)

The Nakasendo trail is longer than this and you can actually do a longer trail walk like the Spain “way of the Cross” where you stay at local inns… but for us, this was enough and a great way to experience the Edo times.