Nakasendō Hiking

history

  • 58. to 63. Sekigahara to Toriimoto

    58. to 63. Sekigahara to Toriimoto

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    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

  • 48. to 50. Hosokute to Fushimi

    48. to 50. Hosokute to Fushimi

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    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

  • Masugata

    Masugata

    A number of the post towns along the way have incorporated a series of what seems to be non-sensical 90-degree turns in the layout of their towns where the Nakasendō passed through. A normal post town has a layout much… …more

  • Interlude: The Early Nakasendō, 初期中山道

    Interlude: The Early Nakasendō, 初期中山道

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    This day the hike didn’t go along the classical Nakasendō from Shimosuwa towards Shiojiri, but followed what is known as the Early Nakasendō. At the very start of the Tokugawa regime after the battles of Sekigahara in 1600, they started… …more

  • 17. and 18. Across the Usui pass

    17. and 18. Across the Usui pass

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    There isn’t just one highlight to this day’s hiking, but rather a lot! The most obvious one is the part that crosses the Usui pass, but there were a lot of other really cool things to see along the rest… …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

  • 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

  • The start of the road

    The start of the road

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    The Nakasendō starts, or ends, in Tokyo, at the Nihonbashi bridge. This place has now become the designated kilometre zero of Japan. That means that all distances today are nominally measured from this place. The metal plate in the road… …more

  • Geography of the path

    Geography of the path

    Along the way, The Nakasendō meanders across a varied landscape. It passes through deep forests, modern cityscapes, over steep mountain passes, and across countless rivers. All these various parts come with their own set of challenges. In order to summarise… …more

Nakasendō Hiking