Nakasendō Hiking

Kantō Plain

  • 2. Warabi-shuku

    2. Warabi-shuku

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    Warabi-shuku, the second post station from Tokyo, was famous for its weaving industry during the Edo period. There were several textile factories, store houses filled with cloth, cotton and threads, merchant houses selling their products, and a contingent of people,… …more

  • 1. Itabashi-shuku

    1. Itabashi-shuku

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    Itabashi-shuku is the first post station of the the sixtynine along the way from Tokyo towards Kyoto. In the beginning it was composed of three different, smaller hamlets called, in the order coming from Tokyo, Hirao-shuku, Naka-shuku, and Kami-shuku. Hirao… …more

  • 14. and 15. and 16. Itahana to Annaka to Matsuida

    14. and 15. and 16. Itahana to Annaka to Matsuida

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    Heading out from Takasaki is where we leave the Kanto plain, or rather the Karasu river is a great boundary for this just at the western edge of the city. On the one side, there is a flat and mostly… …more

  • 11. and 12. and 13. Honjō to Shinmachi to Kuragano to Takasaki

    11. and 12. and 13. Honjō to Shinmachi to Kuragano to Takasaki

    The daruma dolls as featured above are a type of prayer dolls that are a speciality to Takasaki. When you buy them neither of the pupils have been painted. Your job is to paint a pupil in the left eye… …more

  • 9. 10. Kumagaya to Fukaya to Honjō

    9. 10. Kumagaya to Fukaya to Honjō

    At the very beginning of the first leg, as you head out from Kumagaya-shuku you will find the famous part where the old Nakasendō passes right through a modern department store. It was closed in the morning as I started… …more

  • Wildlife so far

    Wildlife so far

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    For all the talk of bears and monkeys in an earlier post, I have seen nothing of them so far. NOTHING! On the other hand, I’ve only been hiking through one of the largest cities on Earth, with only hints… …more

  • 7. and 8. Okegawa to Kōnosu to Kumagaya

    7. and 8. Okegawa to Kōnosu to Kumagaya

    The seventh leg continues in the tradition of yesterday, that is, it runs mostly along the National Route 164 with all that entails with little to no respite from the everpresent traffic. The eighth leg, from Kōnosu to Kumagaya, however… …more

  • 4. 5. 6. Urawa to Ōmiya to Ageo to Ogekawa

    4. 5. 6. Urawa to Ōmiya to Ageo to Ogekawa

    These three legs, the fourth, the fifth and the sixth, from Urawa all the way to Ogekawa are all pretty similar, and truth be told pretty tedious. You will be hiking along the National Route 164 all the way, with… …more

  • 3. Warabi to Urawa

    3. Warabi to Urawa

    This leg is short, only about 4.5 kilometres altogether, but compared with the first two (and the upcoming three) this is more like a hike through a quiet suburb rather than a modern cityscape. The fifth official milestone, the Tsuji… …more

  • 2. Itabashi to Warabi

    2. Itabashi to Warabi

    The second leg of the Nakasendō from Itabashi-shuku to Warabi-shuku keeps following the National Route 17, albeit still with a lot of sidetracking along parallel streets. The path crosses three rivers, including the mighty Arakawa, and enters the Saitama prefecture,… …more

Nakasendō Hiking