Nakasendo Voyage Tips and guide

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The Nakasendō (中山道, "Central Mountain Route") is one of the two key historical routes that connected Tokyo (Edo) to Kyoto.

Unlike the more famous coastal Tokaido, the Nakasendō travels further inland, passing through 69 post stations (宿 shuku, in suffixes -juku) along the way. The Nakasendo flourished during the Edo Period, as you only had to cross a few rivers, unlike the Tokaido. Many famous people travelled the route during the Edo Period, most notably haiku poet Basho of Narrow Road to the Deep North fame.

These days, while the Tokaido passes through Japan's most populated areas and has thus been transformed beyond recognition, the quieter, more remote Nakasendō, while hardly untouched, still retains a few stretches of the old road and some of Japan's best-preserved post towns, most notably the 8 km Magome-Tsumago Trail in the Kiso Valley.

Map of Nakasendo

If you're planning on doing the entire route, your starting point will be either Tokyo or Kyoto. However, if you're planning on visiting the most popular central bit in the Kiso Valley, you'll need to make your way to Nagoya and continue from there on the JR Chuo Main Line.

Unlike the Tokaido, which is more or less faithfully followed by the JR Tokaido Main Line and the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train, the Nakasendo only has partial railway coverage, meaning having your own wheels is the best way to go if you intend to cover the whole thing.

Although much of the Nakasendō no longer exists in its historic form, its route is now roughly followed by modern roads. In order, they are:

• National Route 17: 35.689444139.6916671 Tokyo to 36.323111139.0023611 Takasaki (Gunma Prefecture)
• National Route 18: Takasaki to 36.348417138.5970282 Karuizawa (Nagano Prefecture)
• National Route 142: Saku to 36.069556138.0801943 Shimosuwa (Nagano Prefecture)
• National Route 20: Shimosuwa to 36.114972137.9534444 Shiojiri (Nagano Prefecture)
• National Route 19: Shiojiri to 35.44925137.4128335 Ena (Gifu Prefecture)

The best preserved and most popular part of the Nakasendo, the Magome-Tsumago Trail between the post towns of 35.524722137.5583331 Magome and 35.5753137.59512 Tsumago, is in this section. The trail is typically walked in the "wrong" direction (west to east), since otherwise you're going uphill for much of the way. 35.965278137.8113893 Narai, once the largest and richest post-town in the Kiso Valley, is also worth a visit.

• National Route 21: Mitake (Gifu Prefecture) to 35.315056136.2916396 Maibara (Shiga Prefecture)

35.371556136.5260284 Tarui was the 57th post station. The town of Sekigahara, famed for an epic battle in 1600, is nearby.

• National Route 8: Maibara to 35.013167135.9598897 Kusatsu (Shiga Prefecture)

At Kusatsu, the Nakasendo joins the Tokaido for the final stretch along National Route 1 to 35.011611135.7681112 Kyoto.

From Tokyo, you can get to Takasaki via the Takasaki Line from Omiya (near Tokyo) to Takasaki and continue a bit further on the Shin'etsu Line to Yokokawa, where the train ends.

The easiest section to tour by train, however, is the central part in the Kiso Valley, where the JR Chuo Main Line more or less follows the Nakasendo from Suwa to Shiojiri to Ena. The Wide View Shinano limited express runs the length of the route from Nagano to Nagoya, and in the fall peak season, JR Tokai even runs occasional branded "Nakasendo Trains" from Nagoya to Narai.

At the western end, Maibara is on the Tokaido Shinkansen and there are plenty of trains through Kusatsu to Kyoto.

A few brave souls still walk the entire length, but it has long since been concreted over and traces of the old post road are few and far between.