The Kiso-ji Hike

Way back in the 17th, when Ieyasu Tokugawa set up his residence in Edo (that later would become Tokyo), he introduced a rule that all feudal lords had stay in Edo for some every year. To get to Edo from the south-west of Japan, people travelled along a road called Nakasendo, and part of this trail was known as Kiso-ji, the Kiso Road, after the river that runs in the valley. Along Kiso-ji there were a couple of post towns, and some post towns still remains today

Two of these post towns are Magome and Tsumago, and here you can get a glimpse of Japan of older days. Or so they say. I would say that these villages are quite typical tourist trap, and hardly worth the trip in their own regard. However, there is a trail that follows the old Kiso-ji, and this was a very nice walk through forest and small village. I first took the train from Nagoya to Nakatsugawa and then caught a bus to Magome. From there I walked to Tsumago, and then continued on a few more kilometres to Nagiso where I could take the train back to Nakatsugawa and Nagoya.

1. Magome	2. Flower-bed	3. Fish in Danger	4. View from Magome I
5. View from Magome II	6. Start Kiso-ji	7. Bamboo by the Stairs	8. Past the Bushes
9. Next Village	10. Out in the Woods	11. Along a Brook	12. A Stream in the Forest
13. Shrubs	14. Waterfall	15. Pale Cherry Blossom	16. Hamlet
17. Miniature Garden	18. Rapids from Above	19. Bridge	20. One More Hamlet
21. Bridge and Ramshackle	22. A Beautiful Path	23. Cherries, Road and a Stream	24. Straw Horse
25. Tsumago	26. Park in Tsumago	27. Heading for Nagiso	28. A Fork in the Road
29. Walking by a House	30. Rapids	31. House and Mountain	32. Approaching Nagiso
33. Nagiso I	34. Nagiso II

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