Tours of a Lifetime
Explore the Nakasendo Trail’s More Remote Post Towns on New Self-Guided Walking Tour from Oku Japan
The newly launched Nakasendo Minoji itinerary visits beautifully preserved Edo Period post towns along the trail’s Mino Road.
Kyoto-based adventure operator Oku Japan, which offers a wide range of guided and self-guided walking & trekking itineraries, has just unveiled the newest addition to its line-up: a four-day Nakasendo Minoji self-guided walking tour.
Starting on the Mino Road, or Minoji, which is located further west than Oku’s classic Nakasendō Trail-based tours, in what was formerly known as Mino Province (present-day Gifu Prefecture), guests will enjoy hikes of two to seven hours in duration over the course of four days, traversing some of the trail’s more remote post towns, namely Okute and Oi in the mountains, and then on to Magome, perched on a steep slope, followed by Tsumago, one of the country’s best-preserved post towns. The journey will conclude in Narai, one of the most prosperous towns in its time, located in the famed Kiso Valley.
“Our goal with this new self-guided itinerary is to highlight a part of the Nakasendo that is far less travelled, less well-known, which we enrich further with cultural immersion through our fureai initiative,” says Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Oku Japan’s General Manager. “However, the Kiso Road is synonymous with the Nakasendo itself, so we wanted to ensure we included parts of the classic route too – offering the best of both worlds.”
Mino has a history of pottery-making that dates back 1,300 years, and ceramics from this region (mino ware) account for around 50% of all Japanese pottery still produced today. Though far more remote than the post towns located in the Kiso Valley, the towns nestled in the mountains here were extremely prosperous during the Edo period, and so important strategically that the shogun made sure that they were well defended.
Highlights of the area include a visit to Oni-iwa Park, known for its massive granite boulders that line the river, and the Biwa-toge Pass, which contains one of Japan’s longest ishidatami stone-paved paths and many historical landmarks.
