Blog posts
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65. to 67. Echigawa to Moriyama
The path continues in more or less a straight line heading southwest, a half a dozen or so kilometres from the shores of lake Biwa. The terrain is just about completely flat with the odd riverbank that gives the path… more
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63. to 65. Toriimoto to Echigawa
These two sections of the Nakasendō are at times rather horrible, with hiking along very busy highways that for long stretches have absolutely no pavements. So I have taken a detour to the Hikone castle, which was part of my… more
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58. to 63. Sekigahara to Toriimoto
This day crossed two minor mountain passes, the Imasu pass and the Surihara pass. Both were pretty tame compared to the backbreaking hikes across for instance the Usui or the Wada passes, but at least the Imasu pass was a… more
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52. to 58. Unuma to Sekigahara – Kiso Three Rivers
Because of laziness or maybe boredom I didn’t post yesterday. Most of the hiking yesterday was along rather featureless highways and country roads. So I decided to merge yesterday with today! Yay! Double the info for half the price! The… more
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50. to 52. Fushimi to Unuma
This was a very varied hike. It started on the southern banks of the Kiso river, crossed that waterway (for the last time), and then followed it on the northern side instead. This part of the river valley is called… more
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48. to 50. Hosokute to Fushimi
As I left Hosokute-juku, the owners of the ancient inn where I stayed the night graciously posed for a picture. This day meant hiking along two legs again, from Hosokute-juku, via Mitake-juku, to Fushimi-juku. I also hiked about five kilometres… more
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46. to 48. Ōi to Hosokute
The hike of the day started in Ōi-juku, and ventured into the wilderness of the Jūsan toge, the thirteen mountain passes before arriving in the tiny village of Ōkute-juku. After a short pit-stop, the I crossed the second wilderness of… more
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45. Nakatsugawa to Ōi
The hike today was rather short, just barely over 10 kilometres. This is the shortest I’ll do (except for my rest days) on this trip. I have two reasons for doing such a short walk today. The first is that… more
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41. to 44. Midono to Nakatsugawa
This hike covers what probably are the most famous and well-known passages along the whole Nakasendō: the Magome pass between Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku, as well as the Ochiai cobblestones (ishidatami) on the leg between Magome-juku and Ochiai-juku. The path towards… more
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Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō
In the early to mid 19th century, the master artist Utagawa Hiroshige made a series of woodprints, ukiyo-e, of the 53 stations along the Tōkaidō road between Tokyo and Kyoto. In contrast to the Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō hugs the coast… more