Gifu · Kiso ValleyNo.487★★★Open in map →
Magome-juku
— A stone-paved post town on the Nakasendo
A post town on the old Nakasendo, its single street paved in stone and pitched up a ridge at the southern edge of the Kiso valley. Cars are kept out for the middle of the day, and walking the slope is the visit.
- FromNakatsugawa Station
- ~25 minKitaena bus, about 12 a day
- Get off atMagome stop (Kitaena Kotsu, Magome line)
- On foot
- Magome-juku
Where it is
18 more notes in Gifu · open the map →What to look for — in walking order
- The stone-paved slopethe laid-stone ramp running the full length of the post town, walled with stone on both sides
- Shimizuya Museumletters and papers in Toson's own hand, kept in a merchant house on the street
- Toson Memorial Museumthe honjin site, now a museum to the novelist born into the family that ran it
- Magome Waki-honjin Museumthe secondary official inn, with displays on the customs and rule of the Kiso road
- The lookout at the topthe viewpoint by the upper entrance, facing across the valley to Mount Ena
How to actually get there
- JR Nakatsugawa Station → Magome (Kitaena Kotsu, Magome line, about 25 min to the last stop, 800 yen).
- From the Magome stop, walk a few minutes uphill to the lower entrance of the post town.
- Climb the stone-paved street, passing the museums, as far as the lookout at the top.
- Come back down the same street to the stop, allowing time for the early last bus.
- Kitaena Kotsu bus from Nakatsugawa Station
- JR Nakatsugawa Station →(Kitaena Kotsu, Magome line, about 25 min)→ Magome, the last stop. The operator's fare table gives 800 yen for the ride. On weekdays there are about twelve departures, the first at 07:42 and the last at 18:30, so an afternoon start still works.
- Last bus down from Magome
- The same line runs back from the Magome stop to Nakatsugawa Station. On weekdays the last departure from Magome is at 18:15, earlier than most visitors expect, and there is no late service to fall back on. Walk down to the stop with time in hand rather than timing it to the minute.
About the place
Magome-juku stands on a ridge at the southern end of the Kiso valley, the 43rd post town on the Nakasendo, the inland highway that linked Edo and Kyoto through the mountains. The town is a single street and that street is a ramp: laid stone underfoot, stone retaining walls holding the houses on either side, the gradient never letting up. Dark timber fronts with deep eaves face each other across it. Because the road is closed to vehicles through the busiest hours, what you hear on the slope is footsteps and water, and the walk up is the whole experience of the place.
How to enjoy it
Vehicles are kept off the street from 10:00 to 16:00, so the middle of the day is when the slope is best walked end to end. The museums along it run roughly 9:00 to 17:00 and close earlier in winter, which makes an early afternoon arrival the safe one. Walk up first and come down afterwards: the same street reads differently in each direction, and the descent is when you notice the stonework.
Background & history
Through the Edo period the Nakasendo carried feudal lords, merchants and other travellers between Edo and Kyoto, and this was the stage where they rested before the pass. Shimazaki Toson, one of modern Japan's major novelists, was born here in 1872 into the Shimazaki family, who held the posts of honjin keeper, village headman and freight agent — the honjin being the official inn where travelling lords lodged. The Toson Memorial Museum now stands on the site of that inn, halfway up the slope.
Before you go
- Cash
- Walking the street costs nothing and the car parks are free apart from a few. The museums along the slope each charge their own admission. Bus fares are paid on board.
- Good to know
- The street is open air and steep, and snow and ice are normal from December through February, when the museums also shorten their hours. Vehicles are barred from the street for the busiest part of the day, which is good for walking and awkward for anyone hoping to drive in.
- Another way
- From Nagoya, take the JR Chuo Line limited express to Nakatsugawa and change to the bus. Highway buses on the Nagoya and Tokyo routes also stop at Chuodo Magome out on the expressway, about 15 minutes on foot from the lower entrance of the post town.
- After you get off
- The Magome stop is the end of the line, at the car park below the town. From there the lower entrance is a few minutes uphill, and the street runs from that gate all the way to the lookout at the top.
Nearby notes
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Distances are straight lines on the map, not travel times.