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| Narai-juku |
The final day on the Nakasendo, and the trail had clearly decided to go out on a high note. The Torii Pass (Torii-toge) between Yabuhara and Narai-juku is one of the best preserved sections of the entire route, climbing through ancient woodland to a mountain pass at 1,197m before descending into what many consider the jewel of all the Nakasendo post towns.
We joined the 08:55 local train to Yabuhara along with, it appeared, every other walker in the valley with the same idea. The train was the now-familiar two-carriage affair, and the concentration of foreigners boarding a rural mountain service was not lost on anyone. The locals were gracious about it. The foreigners were enthusiastic. The carriage was cosy.
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| Um...why is it so bright at 0430?!? |
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| Our breakfast |
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| Don't miss the train because there isn't another one for a few hours! |
We pulled into Yabuhara at 09:11 and did what any sensible group does in an unfamiliar trailhead town ...followed the people who looked like they knew where they were going, identified by their gear, their purposeful stride, and their general air of competence. There was the obligatory opening section through town on road, a feature of every Nakasendo trailhead we had by now accepted as simply part of the ritual, before the path finally relented and delivered us into the trees.
The Torii Pass has been in continuous use since the Edo period, when it served as a key mountain crossing for merchants, pilgrims and feudal lords moving between Edo and Kyoto. At the summit sits a small Torii gate (the pass takes its name from it) marking the old provincial boundary. The forest up here is predominantly Japanese larch and oak, largely untouched, and some of the path is still paved with the original flat stones laid centuries ago. At around 9 kilometres with approximately 400 metres of climbing, it is neither the longest nor the hardest day on the trail, but it may be the most quietly beautiful.
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| Sigh...first you must walk on the road |
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| It does give you a good glimpse into life in rural Japan |
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| The shade, the breeze and the temperature were all on our side today |
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| OG stones |
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| Looking back into the town we walked up from |
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| Once again, well signed |
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| Torii at the summit |
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| Yes I like moss |
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| "baby-bearing" horse chestnut...legend has it that a childless village found an abandoned baby in the tree hole. The information board says "He looked after the baby and they lived ever after". If you make tea with the tree bark then you will be blessed with a baby. Noted, don't make tea with bark.... |
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| Spring blooms |
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| Not sure I would drink from that but it looked pretty |
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| Toilet. The first one in Japan that was stinky |
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| Prettiness everywhere |
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| We could see Narai on our way down |
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| The descent |
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| End of the trail and edge of the town |
We arrived in Narai at around 11:30, ahead of the main wave of walkers, which turned out to be excellent timing.
Narai-juku is the longest surviving post town on the entire Nakasendo — a single unbroken street of Edo-period buildings stretching for nearly a kilometre. It prospered during the Edo period as a centre for lacquerware and woodcraft, and today remains almost defiantly unchanged. Arriving on foot, having just walked over the pass the old way, feels entirely appropriate.
We shopped. We explored. We ate before the lunchtime rush arrived.
Lunch was shinshu soba. Shinshu, the old name for Nagano Prefecture, is one of Japan's most celebrated soba regions, its cold mountain climate and clean water producing buckwheat of exceptional quality. The noodles are made with a high buckwheat ratio, giving them an earthy, nutty flavour and a firmness that mass-produced soba cannot replicate. We ordered a variety of soba, zaru and kake.
By the time we finished, the town was filling with the afternoon wave of walkers. We were glad to be walking out when everyone else was looking for a place to sit and eat. The afternoon was spent in the manner that had by now become something of a group tradition — shopping for snacks and sake. Some habits form quickly.
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| End of our hike on the Nakasendo! |
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| We were early enough to see it without crowds |
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| Beautiful long street of timber Edo architecture |
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| Our lunch restaurant |
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| Zaru soba |
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| Oyaki Oyaki - roasted buckwheat dough dumpling wrapped around a vegetables |
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| Fi taking one for the team and tryin the kihada herbal soda. Not bad she says |
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| Hojicha latte for me |
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| Snow ice for May as big as her head |
Our minshuku, Ikariya Machida, sat right in the old town and was charming from the outside, spotless within. The room was spacious. The bathrooms and toilets were shared, which was a surprise to the group initially truth be told, but eventually accepted like the true mature travellers that we were...
Our hosts spoke little to no English. This was managed through the time-honoured combination of pointing, nodding, and mutual goodwill. Dinner was generously proportioned and delicious. And just like that, our time on the Nakasendo came to a close.
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| Our minshuku |
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| Our room |
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| Dinner time! |
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| Definitely protein rich |
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| Extra dishes always come out when you think you can't eat anymore |
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