Nakasendo Trail, Day 1

We have begun the first of five walking days on the Nakasendo Trail.  Our day began early with another great breakfast at the Hyatt, followed by a taxi ride to the train station.  We caught the Shinkansen (bullet train) toward Tokyo, but got off at Nagoya, little over a 30-minute ride.  We waited about 25 minutes, caught a slower train to Nakatsugawa, about 50 minutes long.  We next got a bus to the departure village of Magome, along with hundreds of day trippers and tourists.  We gathered our wits and walked up the main street of Magome passing the traditional-style houses and shops.  The street is paved with flagstones.  

Magome is the 43rd of the 69 post towns from Tokyo (Edo) to Kyoto.  We walked about 5.2 miles to the village of Tsumago, the 42nd post town.  We went up and over the Magome Pass at 801 meters.  It was an easy walk given that it was on even paths, no tree roots and very few protruding rocks.  We passed through two villages on either side of the pass - Touge (translates as "mountain pass") and O-Tsumga, not a numbered town, a few km from Tsumago.  The walking guide worked well in that it described each intersection and included a picture.  The map was less helpful in that it didn't identify most features.  The GPS tracked where we were.

We arrived at our inn for the night at 3:00 pm - Matsushiroya.  It was established in 1804, has 6 rooms (we are on tatami mats again, no WiFi and a single-sized bath.  We took a break for green tea and figgy sweet, before going out to get a completion certificate and to visit the museum.  The museum was nice, a guide described the various rooms of the main house and took our photo sitting in front of the fire pit.  We toured on our own the two other areas which were largely exhibits one would find typical to museums.  We are in the Kiso Valley which was known for timber production.  The locals were paid with rice in exchange for the amount of lumber provided.  Rice was not grown here.

Our inn for the night

Dinner was at our inn and consisted of traditional Japanese fare.  There were 11 dishes, plus green tea and sake.  The dishes were pickled "stalk" of something, asparagus-like stuff, daikon radish, teriyaki carp (bony), sashimi with wasabi, salted grilled river fish (completing a triade of sea, river and pond fishes), soba noodles and broth, rice, miso soup, bowl of vegetables and tofu, and an egg custard with shrimp, chicken bit and crab.

First servings

Second servings