Part 6 - Kiso Valley

This is another part of our 1 day trip on our way home to Tokyo. Kiso Valley is about 1 hr away from Nagoya. Upon reaching JR Nagiso Station, you still need to take a shuttle bus to Tsumago city, which is approximately 10 mins away from the station.

*Kiso Valley runs alongside the mountains of the Central Alps. An Ancient 70km trade route called Kisoji was developed along the valley and served as a very important means of commerce in the area. This route was important from the beginning of the Edo period. It was one of the 2 means of transportation between Edo & Kyoto. Because of the restrictions by the shogunate, travelers were almost forced to make their trips on foot. As a result, "post towns" developed every few kilometers to provide travleres with placese to rest, eat and fight accomodation. Among the few preserved towns were Magome, Tsumago and Narai.But between Magome and Tsumago, it's only approximately 30minutes by foot. I went to Tsumago.

*Tsumago is one of the best preserved post towns in Japan. The residents go through great lengths to recreate the ambience of the Edo period. Cars are prohibited on the main street in the day and phone lines are power cables are kept concealed. In all post towns, Honjin was the principal inn and served government officials who were travelling through. When more lodging was required the Wakihonjin served to accomodate the travelers of lower status.

*Info from Japan Guide

I found the Notice board the most interesting. Well it was actually to disseminate info from the shogunate. It was written in the guide saying the reason it was " higher up " instead of on the ground level because it was meant to "look down" at the public, with a sense of authority. But it's only a notice board..... ????......so that meant status level was very important back then...