The Nakasendo Way tour provides us with a fascinating insight into the world of feudal Japan, the samurai and, also, village life today. We start in the ancient capital, Kyoto, and gently find our way through rural Japan and the central mountains to Tokyo. We follow some of the most enjoyable and best-preserved parts of the old highway. On route we stay in beautiful old inns, enjoy fine regional cuisine and share life with the Japanese, some of the most polite and friendliest people in the world. We rate this as a level 2 walk, which is suitable for anyone who is an occasional walker and can walk for a couple of hours in comfort. In general, the route is gently undulating but also includes some short, steeper climbs.

Nakasendo Way is now better than ever. We have upgraded it to be fully guided, including more walking and travel from the Nakasendo’s beginning in Kyoto to its end in Edo, modern day Tokyo. The Nakasendo Way is the pioneering walking tour of Japan. A best seller for over a decade, this tour provides a unique, intimate experience of Japan and its people. Of course, these days it is no longer unique. The Shogun Trail and Buddhist Trek tours also bring Japan up close in different, but no less fascinating contexts.

 

The Nakasendo Way explores one of Japan’s ancient highways, the Nakasendo - literally ‘the road through the mountains’. The tour starts in Kyoto, an ancient capital and cultural epicentre of Japan, and follows some of the best preserved parts of the old road deep into the mountains.

In its heyday in the seventeenth century, the Nakasendo was crowded with travellers, including feudal lords, samurai, itinerant merchants and pilgrims. Now largely forgotten and quiet, the road provides a pleasant path through scenic countryside and, also, the history of Japan. We pass through and stay in picturesque, old post towns on route in much the same way that the Japanese traveller of old did. Charming, traditional inns, which have somehow survived into the modern world, provide us with friendly and atmospheric overnight accommodation. In the evenings, in an ambience reminiscent of Hiroshige's woodblock prints of feudal Japan, we relax and enjoy excellent meals.

 

The Nakasendo Way follows the most enjoyable, scenic and best preserved parts of the old highway. Seventeenth-century travellers insisted on a reasonably easy route for their journey and so do we. This is a walking tour not a trek. The average daily walking distance is a moderate 10-26 kilometres. Transport, however, can be arranged for those who desire a more relaxed day. Baggage goes by taxi, except when we travel by train. We climb several passes, but they have fairly gentle inclines and can be taken at a comfortable pace.

 

We meet in Kyoto and travel through Hikone, Sekigahara, Magome, Tsumago, Narai (the last three, difficult to find on a map, are to the north and east of Nagoya) and Karuizawa before arriving in Tokyo. Detailed instructions are provided on how to get to Kyoto and travellers make their own arrangements to get there.

The small, intimate nature of the inns makes the maximum group size fifteen, including guide.

Itinerary
This itinerary for the Nakasendo Way trip is "ground only," beginning in Kyoto and ending in Tokyo. After receiving the boooking and deposit we will provide detailed instructions on getting to the meeting point in Kyoto from Osaka’s Kansai Airport (KIX) and Tokyo’s Narita Airport (NRT). Arrangements can be made by Walk Japan for extra time in Kyoto before or after the trip. At the end of the tour, travellers are advised not to book themselves out on an early morning flight as it can take up to 90 minutes hours to get from the Tokyo accommodation to the Narita Airport and up to three hours 30 minutes to Kansai Airport. Domestic transport by Japan Rail to Kyoto Station or by air to Osaka's Itami Airport also gets travellers to Kyoto easily.

 

Day 1 - Meet in Kyoto at the inn in the evening. Dinner, including orientation, and breakfast provided. 

Day 2 - Guided tour of Kyoto. Walk through Nishijin brocade-weaving district of Kyoto to Rokuon-ji/Kinkaku (Golden Pavilion) and Ryoan-ji (famous Zen rock garden). Transfer to Arashiyama, the ‘leisure garden area’ of ancient court nobles, for lunch. Stroll through the bamboo groves and beautiful temples of this semi-rural, scenic part of west Kyoto. Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 3 - Travel by train to the feudal period castle town of Hikone; walk through the city to see the structure of a castle town and visit the castle, one of only a few in Japan that retains its original, spectacular keep. Train to Sekigahara, in 1600 the site of, arguably, the most important battle in Japanese history. It heralded the start of the 270 year Tokugawa dynasty and Edo period. Stay in traditional inn. ‘Hot-pot’ (nabe) dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 4 - Trains to Mitake followed by 8 kilometres walk to Hosokute post-town through countryside. Stay in 17th century inn. Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 5 - 22 kilometres walk to Ena along ridge-top route dating from the 8th Century. Picnic lunch near Okute, home to a 1200-year old cedar tree. Stay in a modern hotel (2 stars) with private rooms. Coin laundry facilities available. Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 6 - Morning stroll across rolling countryside to Nakatsugawa, old post town and now a pleasant regional town. Leisurely time here before our afternoon walk in hilly countryside to Shinchaya teahouse, now a refurbished inn. Total walking about 18 kilometers. Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 7 - Walk to Magome post-town, home of Japan's first modern novelist, Shimazaki Toson (author of Before the Dawn). On to O-tsumago, a small cluster of inns for a total of about 11 kilometres walking. Stay in traditional inn. Visit the old, high class inn, now museum, in Tsumago and enjoy an evening bath at a mountaintop hot spring. Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 8 - Walk about 5 kilometres through the post-town of Tsumago to Nagiso. Then another 18 kilometres through farm land, forested hills and over a steep pass. Take a train to Kiso-Fukushima and stay in a Japanese ryokan (inn). Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 9 - Walk through Kiso-Fukushima to visit the reconstructed barrier station. Mini-bus to Kaida Kogen, the high plateau at the foot of volcanic Mt. Ontake. A 90 minute walk along a stretch of the Hida Road over the Nishino Pass to Mt. Shiroyama, at 1,429 metres the highest point of the tour. On to Yabuhara post-town by mini-bus and walk 7 kilometres over the Torii-toge pass back to the lovely post town of Narai post-town. Stay in a famous inn of ancient lineage. Dinner and breakfast provided. 

Day 10  - Free time in the morning to explore Narai; go shopping (especially for lacquer ware) and relax in one of the town’s many pleasant cafés. Travel by train to Karuizawa, a rural resort town in beautiful mountain countryside, arriving in time to continue, where we left off in Narai, exploring. Breakfast provided.
Day 11 - After breakfast, we walk 10 kilometres over the Usui Pass to Yokokawa. We then take a local train to Takasaki, where we change to the Shinkansen 'Bullet' Train for Tokyo. These trains mostly follow the route of the Nakasendo into the capital. After arriving late afternoon in Tokyo we walk the last two or so kilometres to Nihonbashi bridge, where the Nakasendo terminated, for a fitting finalé to the walk. Our final night's lodging is a 3/4 star hotel close to Nihonbashi and just a few minutes walk to Tokyo Station. Also, the Ginza, Japan’s shopping heaven, is a five minute taxi ride away.
Day 12 - Breakfast provided, after which the tour ends.

Departure Dates for 2009
26 March
2, 9, 28 April
7, 14, 21 May
10, 24 September
8, 15, 22 October