Nakasendō
中山道
The old highway between Kyoto and Edo (Tokyo), about 534 km with 69 post towns, partly preserved as a walking trail at Magome and Tsumago.
At a glance
- Starts in
- Kyoto
- Ends in
- Nihonbashi, Tokyo
- Length
- 534 km
- On foot
- ≈ 21–27 days
- Countries
- Japan
About the trail
The Nakasendo was one of the five roads of the Edo period and connected Kyoto and Edo through the mountains. Unlike the coastal Tōkaidō it ran inland, through the valleys of what are now Gifu and Nagano, and travellers rested at post towns with inns, tea houses and official lodgings for feudal lords.
Most of the route now lies under modern roads. Sections such as the Magome-Tsumago path in the Kiso valley are well preserved, with stone paving, cedar forest and restored wooden post towns, and walkers usually stay in traditional inns and send luggage ahead between them.
In the Edo period there were 69 post towns along the road.
No source gives the days on foot, so they are worked out from the length at 20–25 km a day.