by Al Hairat Aat

Created on: February 27, 2010

In July 2009 I picked up my 14-year-old son in Hiratsuka following his Sister City home-stay experience and took him with me while I worked on the latest update of my Frommer’s Japan. A skateboarder, with little patience for high-brow museums and a no-way, no-how attitude toward sushi, Johannes isn’t the type for action-packed days racing from one attraction to the other. So I planned an itinerary based on his laid-back style. We even hit a few skate parks, admittedly a first for me.

After spending a few days in and around Tokyo, where among other places we visited Ueno Zoo, the free observatory in Shinjuku’s TMG, the John Lennon Museum, and a skate park in Maihama, we lit out for the Japan Alps. This scenic region is home to some of my favorite small towns and villages in the country-Takayama (where we found another skate park), Shirakawago (he liked the thatched farmhouses), and Matsumoto (the castle was a winner). But his absolute favorite part of our trip was a hike in Kiso Valley, on the old Nakasendo Highway. And why not? After all, we were following in the footsteps of feudal lords and samurai. What teenager wouldn’t find that cool?

Located between Nagoya and Matsumoto amidst the towering peaks of the Japan Alps, Kiso Valley served as a natural passageway through the mountains for the Nakasendo Highway, one of two official roads linking Kyoto with Edo (present-day Tokyo) during the Edo Period (1603-1867).

The Nakasendo Highway follows this stream

Of the 11 post towns that sprang up along the old highway in the Kiso district, Tsumago and Magome are the best preserved. A five-mile pathway that follows the old Nakasendo Highway links them.

We started our hike in Magome, where old inns and souvenir shops line both sides of a steep slope. Within an hour we reached Magome Pass, highest point of the three-hour hike and providing scenic views of the wood-covered hills. After that we found ourselves walking comfortably through dense woods and bamboo groves, past paddies and old wooden homes, and along a rushing river.

Magome

During our hike I explained to Johannes that long ago, long before trains, planes and paved roads, travel in Japan was on foot and far from easy. Volcanic in origin, Japan is mostly mountainous, with slopes so steep that ascending them is sometimes like climbing a tree. Travelers of yore, therefore, stuck to valleys wherever they could, not only because it was easier but also because they had to. In feudal Japan,

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