Tsumago-juku, an old post town - the flavor of the Edo period

Like travelers did more than 150 years ago, we arrived on foot at a small town called Tsumago(妻籠）, which was a post town along the Nakasendo Road during the Edo period.

"Is it a set for a historical drama?” Probably everyone who steps into the town would at first feel the same as I did and ask themselves this question. It looked like people from the Edo period could come out of the houses at any moment. However, whether you believe it or not, it is not a theme park but a real town which is fully inhabited by modern people and a place where they run businesses, such as shops and inns for tourists. The town is also fully equipped with public utilities such as electricity, gas, water supply and sewage just like other cities.

Tsumago has been a Nationally-designated Architectural Preservation Site since 1976 and has been preserved by the actual residents. We stayed in a cozy inn at Tsumago on the first night.

The opening of the whole Chuo Main Line railway in 1911 brought depopulation and poverty to many post towns along the Nakasendo Road because the railroad runs far away from the mountainous area. Tsumago was no exception.  Ironically, its lack of economic strength in the era of modernization has resulted in the conservation of its townscapes so they remain just as they were in the Edo period.

The building on the left is Tsumago's Post Office.

hagi :Japanese bush clover
 

Chinese Lanterns



43 Tsumago, The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido, by Utagawa Hiroshige

Tsumago has returned to life and is now visited by many tourists as it was a long time ago. The folks in Tsumago have made a great effort to preserve its townscapes. I can well imagine that it isn’t a piece of cake to live in the preservation site, for many repairs on the houses have to be made according to the preservation rules.

the Araragi River that runs by Tsumago

Located near the Kiso River or its tributaries, the post towns in the Kiso valley are abundant in clear water. Many water wheels are turning and almost all the houses have wooden water tanks in front of them. In the town, we found various nostalgic goods on sale such as geta(wooden clogs), wooden boxes, kasa(hats made of hinoki cypress chips), etc.

Early in the next morning, the town and the mountains were veiled with a dense mist. Dewdrops spangled the foliage. 



There are several facilities such as Tsumago's honjin which are open to visitors.

inside the Tsumago-juku's former honjin

Leaving Tsumago before noon, we walked along the Kiso River to Midono, another post town. Most of its buildings were destroyed by a fire in 1881. Along the way, we came across a lovely wooden suspension bridge over the river.

the Kiso River

Momosuke Bridge(left&right)

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from The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido(Nakasendo)

The Kiso-kaido series of prints was a collaboration between Hiroshige(歌川広重）

and Keisai Eisen (渓斎 英泉), Edo period

27 Ashida by Utagawa Hiroshige

41 Nojiri by Keisai Eisen

45 Ochiai by Utagawa Hiroshige

Related post: Walking the Nakasendo - the historical road connecting Kyoto to Edo