Nakatsugawa and the Nakasendo - May 2024
Waterfall between Ochiai-juku and Magome-juku in the Old Nakasendo Highway. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
We stayed for four days and three nights in Nakatsugawa, and I wish we could have stayed for longer to explore around the Kiso Valley area and Chubu region, and generally speaking the Gifu prefecture (a sentiment that stayed with us even after we left Nakatsugawa for Gero, and then Gifu city). Stepping out of the JR Nakatsugawa Station, you’d find yourself in a little town surrounded by mountains. That sight was a marvel to us as we live (and have always lived) in otherwise flat regions.
A panorama from the top of Naegi Castle Ruins showing the mountains that surrounded us. Sony RX100V, panorama stitched in post.
We stayed at Onn Nakatsugawa, a modern hotel with comfort and conveniences that felt luxurious to us after our long hikes at the end of each day (Netflix, for one). They have Chazuke for free every night—we didn’t get to partake in this to our regret.
Rice paddy. We saw so many rice paddies. Sony RX100V.
Day 1: Naegi Castle Ruins and Tsukechi Gorge
On our first full day, we took the local bus to Naegi Castle Ruins, which is Japan’s oldest reconstructed wood castle. The local buses in this area only accept cash (coins, to be exact), not Suica, so make sure you have them in hand. Naegi was about 40 minutes walk from the bus stop, but it was an absolutely scenic walk, and you could opt to go through a forest trail to visit a shrine, as well as a cave.
At the shrine in the forest overlooking the castle. Sony RX100V.
The actual castle, like its name suggests, is in skeletal ruins. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth visiting! The site has detailed explanations (in English too) on the construction of the castle itself that lets the audience imagine what it was like to be a resident of the castle 400 years ago. There is a well that is even today miraculously filled with ground water, which baffles everyone as getting water up high into a castle on the mountain is difficult, much less obtaining ground water. The castle was built on massive boulders, which must have been a serious engineering feat. One of these boulders was called ‘Horse-washing boulder’: the legend goes that during a siege, the soldiers of the castle washed a horse here with rice water, to fool the attacking forces into thinking they had plenty of water and supplies in the castle.
This is what the castle keep currently looks like—this is where the castle lord’s study/work room would have been. The guide says that archaeologists think the actual structure of the castle would have jutted out beyond what we see here. Sony RX100V.
The view is absolutely worth the hike. Sony RX100V.
The castle on the hill. It would have looked magical in the fall with red leaves and fog. Sony RX100V.
A damselfly chilling on the castle keep. I’ve had no luck identifying this species online so far unfortunately, hit me up if you know what this is! Sony RX100V.
We decided to do something crazy and visit Tsukechi Gorge, which is typically reached by car as the nearest bus stop is still like 7km away from the actual site. That distance turned out to be much further as the direct road has been closed since end of last year for construction. I’m sure that’s not a big deal if you’re taking the car, but that added 50% more walking time for us, and we had to walk on the actual road in a narrow and winding mountain road, which was a bit nerve-wrecking when cars decide to speed through nevertheless. Bear in mind (pun-intended) that this is also bear country, as many signs would warn you along the way, so take care.
Waiting for the bus. We stopped by a grocery store to stock up on onigiri and cookies as lunch and trail snack. The Matador Beast18 v2.0, seen here in the foreground, was our trusty daypack companion—fits our day hike needs, my camera, super comfortable to carry due to its functional hip belt and frame, but packable inside my main backpack during transit. Sony RX100V.
Being greeted by a dog near the last bus stop. Sony RX100V.
Many rice paddies indeed. Sony RX100V.
Was the long walk to and from Tsukechi Gorge worth it? Heck yeah.
There are three waterfalls in Tsukechi Gorge and I might get their names mixed up. I think this is the Kannon falls, but let me know if I got it wrong. This would look out of this world with fiery autumn foliage. Sony RX100V.
We couldn’t stay too long as we had to trek back in time to catch the last bus back to town. We only managed to see two waterfalls—I believe this is Fudo falls?—but we couldn’t find a way to get closer to this one in the short time we had. Sony RX100V.
We went through quite a few suspension bridges. The signs warned to make sure only 3 adults are crossing on it at one time. Sony RX100V.
This turned out to be a quick way back to the entrance/exit. Sony RX100V.
There is a little restaurant at the entrance to Tsukechi Gorge where we stopped to get some refreshments after our long walk there. They have a patio that overlooks the beautiful sceneries of the gorge below. Sony RX100V.
By the time we got back on the bus, the golden hour was shifting into blue hour. I thought the light and the scenes in the bus were breathtaking in their colour.
It was a long ride: an hour or so ride back to town. Sony RX100V.
We actually saw this couple at Tsukechi Gorge too! Sony RX100V.
Rice paddy through the bus window. Sony RX100V.
7-11 through the bus window, our lifeline in Nakatsugawa where there’s not much vegetarian option, especially for dinner. Sony RX100V.
Day 2: The Nakasendo
Arriving at Tsumago-juku in time for the golden hour. Sony RX100V.
The Nakasendo (the kanji literally is ‘Central (中) Mountain (山) Path (道)’) is a part of the old Tokaido Highway from Tokyo to Kyoto (and back). Today, the Nakasendo is famous as a hiking path that takes the hiker through breathtaking sceneries and pretty post towns that seem to be preserved in time.
The hike can be as short or easy as you want. There are buses and trains that one can take along the way to save time or feet. We chose to walk the entire way from Nakatsugawa, Ochiai-juku, Magome-juku, and to Tsumago-juku, before walking a little bit more to grab the train back at Nagiso station. It was about 13km with some steep trails, but very doable for pretty much anyone! We did take the whole day, but that’s only because I slowed us down with my camera. It’s highly recommended to really take your time and slow down and not just because of photography—there is a ton of arts and cultural experience along the way, and not to mention delicious local food to sample.
Engineers working on the train tracks at Nakatsugawa. Sony RX100V.
Nakatsugawa-juku, Ochiai-juku, Magome-juku, and Tsumago-juku were 4 out of 69 historic post towns along the Nakasendo where weary travellers could rest and refuel for the rest of their journey. Many parts of the actual historic Nakasendo are now highways or train tracks, but the famous Nakasendo hiking trail is clearly sign-posted (with bear bells too!), and on Google Maps you can see it labeled as ‘Old Nakasendo’ (旧中山道). However, the first part of our journey from Nakatsugawa to Ochiai-juku was mostly just following the car lanes, although closer to Ochiai-juku it meanders into residential areas. It’s probably why most people just skip this part of the trail. The waterfall at the top of this post is at the beginning leg of the ‘proper’ hiking trail away from the cars—personally, the sight of that waterfall was worth our 1+ hour walking along the highway to Ochiai-juku!
A rest bench near Ochiai-juku. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
Reaching Ochiai-juku. Sony RX100V.
I thought long and hard about bringing my Tokina macro lens with me and ultimately opted not to to save weight and space, but it would be a lie if I say I didn’t miss the lens from time to time! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
I realise I haven’t mentioned anything about all the spiders we saw in Japan. We saw so many spiders and walked through so many spider webs! In fact, I was walking around a few times with a spider dangling on me. I mostly feel bad we destroyed so many spider homes, but it looks like the spiders are extremely productive in Japan! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
Another reason to not miss the trail between Ochiai-juku and Magome-juku is the famous Ochiai cobblestone road. This is a 840m long cobblestone-paved path through bamboo forest—apparently 70m of this path is of the old historic Nakasendo trail! I was mostly amazed at how quiet everything went the moment we entered the path. It really made me feel like I’d just stepped back in time.
The start of Ochiai Cobblestone Road. Sony RX100V.
A closeup of the cobblestones. Watch your footing as they’re not even! I can’t imagine how horses travelled on this last time. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
Many temples, shrines and memorials dot the whole length of the Nakasendo. We didn’t always stop at each one because of a lack of time—I think a wiser move might have been to book a ryokan at Magome-juku or Tsumago-juku to really allow us the time to explore more. Sony RX100V.
Sony RX100V. Colour grading green is really hard for me.
We were truly lucky with the weather on that day. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
This was the view from the public bathroom at Magome-juku. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
Magome-juku was pretty crowded even though we went on a weekday—I can’t imagine how much more crowded it would be in the weekend and/or during autumn or cherry blossom period. It looked like tour buses dropped many tour groups here, but the density of people rapidly thinned out the further we ventured from Magome-juku.
One of the iconic water wheels at Magome-juku (and we see a lot along the Nakasendo). Not sure if they’re still functional or just purely decorative. Sony RX100V.
The path between Magome-juku and Tsumago-juku was 8km long, and a lot of it goes through forested areas separated by the highway.
There are bear bells positioned along the trail between Magome-juku and Tsumago-juku. Many local hikers also opt to wear bear bells on their persons.
A slight detour would lead to the Odaki and Medaki waterfalls (literally woman and man waterfalls).
Medaki waterfall. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
Odaki waterfall. A part of me wished I could get closer, but I didn’t want to veer off trail, and also as this was the first time I was in ‘proper’ bear country I was low-key nervous about lingering too long in the woods. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
A shot of the river (I think this might be Kiso river?) near Tsumago-juku. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.
By the time we reached Tsumago-juku, the sun was setting, and almost the entire town was closed. I saw online that the town would also look exceedingly pretty at night, but alas, we had to hustle to Nagiso station before the daylight is gone as it was still another mile or so away. (If you’re taking this road, note that Google Maps especially can’t be trusted for this leg of the journey. The last leg of the road leading to Nagiso would take you through a narrow mountain road meant for cars and trucks, so just be careful.) We missed out on so many other things to see around Tsumago and Nagiso as well, which was a huge regret. For those who are interested in hiking more, the Nakasendo trail does continue to more jukus.
Sony RX100V.
Sony RX100V.
Sony RX100V.
We made our way back to Onn Nakatsugawa in a train full of school kids with bear bells attached to their backpacks. We had a train to catch the next day to Gero Onsen for a relaxing day after a few days of longer hikes!
