You are walking back from the ancient imperial capital of Japan, Kyoto, to the new city of the Shoguns, Edo, which will become the Tokyo of future days. This is a journey of weeks. You have to rest along the way and here is one of the post towns where you can lay your head, staying safe from bandits and thieves. Let us hope that you will be secure here at Tsumago in the Kiso Valley.
The Nakasendo is one of the old trails and this section has been preserved as it was. Well, sort of. Tsumago is carefully protected. Telegraph wires and other modern paraphernalia are kept away from the main street. There are restriction on cars. It is very twee and full of tourists, but you do get a feel for what it must have been like, without the grime which must have been present, and it is a magical place to stay. Once the day trippers have cleared off, as the dusk arrives, the lanterns are lit, people scurry under the overhangs and into tiny doors, maybe you can place yourself in the wayside village of hundreds of years ago.
Today we can walk the beautiful section to Magome further up the valley. The route winds out of the village on a firm track, crossing the road at times but mainly through green and wooded country, the way little changed from the old times.
We amble past fish farms, little old homes and inns and stop at a tea house at the highest point. There is a cup of tea for you and a boiled sweet, all gratis but a contribution is a good idea. By now you have looked back across the treetops to Tsumago and are contemplating how far there is to go. Don't worry, this is only a two or three hour walk, depending on how much you like to push it.
I think we have lucked out again by coming to Japan in the rainy season. There is hardly anyone about. Most of the walkers are headed in the opposite direction, maybe because it is less of a climb if you start at Tsumago. There is mist and cloud. It is damp and green but the rain holds off.
Who might be lurking in these trees, intent on relieving the weary traveller of a pouch of coins or a valuable folder of documents needed further up the road? We have to hope there is a watchful Samurai who has chanced this way as well. Maybe someone of the calibre of the warrior we encountered at the beautiful Samurai House in Kanazawa has made it his business to protect vulnerable folk and keep the bandits at bay. His feudal lord praised him for killing an enemy in battle and said "We are very happy that you brought us his head". That would do.
There are other dangers. You must ring the bell to warn off the bears.
Someone along the way tells us he has never seen a bear here in years. But it is a captivating thought. You can understand how the legends of the way grow up: the wild animals, the pilferers, the men of honour, the tea house havens, the safety of the post towns, the magic streams.
There are two waterfalls, male and female, which harbour stories of lovers meeting, of swordsmen training on the rocks and of a golden rooster flying behind the water. This is Medaki, the female falls. Could it be the same one that appears in Keisai Eisen's print of the Nakasendo Trail at Magome Station?
Magome has a steep old street, flanked by food and trinket shops. We left our bags at the tourist office in Tsumago and here they are transported to Magome's tourist place, ready for us at the end of the walk. We skip forward a century or two, catching a bus from the bottom of the hill, then the bullet train to Tokyo.
Comments