Southwest Fukui · WakasaNo.485★Open in map →

Kumagawa-juku

— Post town on the mackerel road to Kyoto

historyOff the trail — and worth it

A preserved post town in a Wakasa valley, on the old road that carried salted mackerel to the imperial capital. A water channel runs the length of the street with a stone slab bridging it to every doorway.

FromKyoto Station
~1 hr 40 minKosei Line then JR bus
Get off atWakasa-Kumagawa bus stop (JR Bus Jakko Line)
On foot
Kumagawa-juku

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

It is documented and signposted, not undiscovered. What thins the crowd is distance: there is no railway station in the valley, so reaching it means a bus between two rural stations, and day-trippers from Kyoto usually take the easier post towns instead.

Where it is

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What to look for

Kumagawa-juku street663highland / CC BY 2.5

The Maegawa channela water channel down the length of the street, with stone slabs bridging it to each doorway and kawato washing steps cut to the water
Kumagawa Banshothe checkpoint that controlled traffic and goods moving along the road
Wakasa Saba-kaido Kumagawa-juku Museumthe district museum, known as the Shukuba-kan, holding old documents and the post town's official diaries
Michi-no-Eki Wakasa Kumagawa-jukuthe roadside station at the valley entrance, with parking and the closest set of facilities

How to actually get there

Kyoto Station → Omi-Imazu Station (JR Kosei Line).
Omi-Imazu Station → Wakasa-Kumagawa (JR Bus Jakko Line, toward Obama). The official site puts the whole trip from Kyoto at about 1 hour 40 minutes.
Wakasa-Kumagawa stop → the preserved street (walk about 3 min).
Walk the street along the Maegawa channel, then take the same line onward to Obama or back toward Omi-Imazu.

Kosei Line to Omi-Imazu, then the JR bus: Kyoto Station →(JR Kosei Line)→ Omi-Imazu Station, then the JR Bus Jakko Line toward Obama →(alight at Wakasa-Kumagawa)→ a short walk into the district. The official Kumagawa-juku site puts the whole trip at about 1 hour 40 minutes.
Return, or carry on to the coast: The Jakko Line runs between Omi-Imazu and Obama and Kumagawa sits partway along it, so you can go back toward Kyoto or continue to Obama on the Wakasa coast. Note the departure time posted at the stop before you start walking, and decide which direction you want while you still have the timetable in front of you.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Kumagawa sits in a valley in the Wakasa hills, on the road that linked the Sea of Japan coast to Kyoto. Wakasa supplied seafood to the imperial capital, and the route became known as the Saba Kaido, the mackerel road. The street is lined with plastered merchant houses and storehouses, some with their gable end to the road and some with their long side. Running beside them is the Maegawa, a water channel with stone bridges to each entrance and washing steps called kawato cut down to the water. The old checkpoint, the magistrate's compound and the storehouse plots are all on the same short street.

How to enjoy it

Give the street a slow single pass rather than a loop, since it runs in one line and the interest is in the detail beside your feet. Read the departure time at the stop before you set off, because your walking time is bounded by the bus rather than by the district. If you are heading to the Wakasa coast afterwards, take the bus onward to Obama rather than doubling back.

Background & history

Asano Nagamasa gathered the merchants of the valley into a single post town in 1589, which set the shape of the street that survives today. The stage was the road between Wakasa and Kyoto, and Kumagawa handled the goods moving along it, mackerel among them. The district was designated an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 1996. In 2015 the route and its towns were recognised as Japan Heritage.

Before you go

Cash: There is no charge to walk the preserved street. Bring cash for the bus fare, and for the museum and the shops in the district.
Good to know: The street is open at any hour and needs no ticket, but this is a lived-in village: the museum, the shops and the roadside station each keep their own days off, so some doors will be shut on any given day.
Another way: From the Wakasa coast side, take the JR Obama Line to Kaminaka Station and pick up the same JR bus toward Omi-Imazu. Kumagawa is a few stops along, which makes the district easy to fold into a trip to Obama.
After you get off: From the Wakasa-Kumagawa stop on Route 303, walk about three minutes to reach the old street. You will know you are in the district when the water channel appears alongside the road.