24 May 2016
The above picture shows Magome, the starting point of our journey along the Nakasendo Trail. Magome is one the two restored and preserved Edo-period way stations on the Nakasendo highway in the Kiso Valley. To get to Magome, we flew into Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport and took a series of trains and buses.
We arrived at Nagoya’s Chūbu Centrair International Airport in the morning after a red-eye flight from Singapore. Clearing the immigration was fast and efficient. Signs of things to come while in Japan. There was a couple of administrative activities to be done before we head to the airport’s train station. First up, luggage forwarding of our suitcase to our hotel in Kanazawa. This cost 1,952 yen per item and left us hands-free to enjoy our journey with only daypacks until we arrived at Kanazawa 4 days later. Next up, collect our e-connect data SIM card from the post office that we had pre-ordered a few days before the trip. It took about 15 minutes of fiddling with my phone to get the data connection working, although the instructions given in the package was very clear. Maybe, I was still groggy after the flight. Then, we went to test our Pasmo prepaid smart cards (bought during the previous trip in Tokyo) at a grocery store within the airport. It is usable in this part of Japan too! The clerk at the store helped us deposit up some yen into our cards.
At the train station, a friendly gentleman in a beige uniform came to ask where we were going and offered information on how to get there by train. He is probably a tourism ambassador stationed at the airport to assist visitors. It is good that Japan is making the country more visitor-friendly. He was slightly surprised when we told him our destination was Nakatsugawa. I guess not many international tourists ventured into that part of Japan. He confirmed that our Pasmo cards can be used to pay for the tickets. With that, we topped up more money into our Pasmo cards using the automatic ticket machine (there is English language interface for selection) and off we went.
Travel by Meitetsu Railways express train from the airport to Nagoya Station took 30 minutes, followed by a slow local JR train ride into Nakatsugawa. It was about 2 PM when we arrived at Nakatsugawa. This town is one of the post-towns along the old Nakasendo Trail linking Kyoto to Tokyo in the old days. With modern development, it has lost most of its charms when compared to towns like Magome, Tsumago and Narai. Now, Nakatsugawa served as a gateway into these towns in the Kiso Valley for most visitors like us. Our plan was to have lunch at Nakatsugawa before taking the next available bus into Magome, the starting point of our journey along the old Nakasendo Highway. Using google maps, we headed for one of the listed restaurants near the station. This town, in the middle of the day, was like a ghost town. All shops and restaurants were closed. We met some other disappointed tourists, lugging their heavy backpacks and suitcases, also searching for something to eat. All we could find was a convenience stall and a small Udon stall inside the station itself. Bus from Nakatsugawa to Magome runs hourly, so we decided to eat what we could find while waiting the next bus leaving at 3.20 PM. So our first meal in Japan consists of a bowl of hot Udon noodles topped with a raw egg and a pre-packed food from the convenience store, shared among the two of us.
It takes skill to open the packaging correctly so you can eat the contents without messing up your hands. 3–steps instructions were provided. The local Japanese women in the station were watching us in amusement as we struggled with the packaging. Fortunately, we did not embarrassed ourselves too much.
The bus to Magome left as scheduled, right on the dot. We were to experience this again and again in Japan. If you think the Swiss trains and buses runs like clockwork, Japan is just as good! Come to think of it, both countries makes good precision watches!
Taking the local bus was easy. Enter through the middle door, take a numbered ticket from the machine showing where you board. There were stops announcements along the journey. Press the bell to signal the driver that we want to alight. Show ticket to driver at the front and pay the fare as shown on the blue board overhead.
We got off the bus at Magome, together with almost everyone else!
This was what greeted us. Wow! Rural Japan.
Magome is one the two restored and preserved Edo-period way stations on the Nakasendo highway in the Kiso Valley. The other being Tsumago. We will be staying in the Magome for the night to recuperate from our long journey and night flight before embarking on the Magome to Tsumago walk along the old Nakasendo Trail the next day.
Entering the town, we could see an old wooden notice board, located near the masugata, an almost 90 degrees bend in the path leading the town and sloping uphill. Further on, a working water wheel and the endless gushing of clear mountain water through the drain that runs through the entire town. Amazing feeling of travelling back in time to ancient Japan.
The “main street” of Magome runs for about 600m, with stone pavements and old shops, minshukus and ryokans lining both sides. As we walked up the pavement, looking out for the Tajimaya Ryokan, where we will stay for the night, the soothing constant gushing sound of the running water in the drain accompanied us.
Tajimaya Ryokan welcomed us with a pot of hot green tea and some snacks in our Japanese style rooms. After a brief rest, we decided to go explore Magome before our dinner at 6 PM.
For a short while, Magome was swarmed with tourists. They soon disappeared with their tour guides and Magome in the late evening and night was back to the tranquillity.
We explored Magome till it was time for our dinner. We walked into the common dinning room on the ground floor and were greeted with a table set full of food! Mostly locally grown and sourced ingredients were used in this spread.
After the meal, we took a walk to see Magome at night. It was beautiful and kind of different from the Magome in the day. Totally deserted and I was half expecting to see a ninja appearing on the roofs.
There is nothing really to do after dark except for a hot bath in the Japanese style shared bathroom and then go to bed early. Some ryokans have a small Japanese style shared bathroom that can be used privately. Unfortunately, not in Tajimaya. For those that don't like to sit naked while bathing with other people, chose a time when everyone has finished their bath and you may have the bathroom to yourself.
Alternatively, just quickly get used to this custom in Japan. Especially since we will be visiting more onsens later.
Hi Jeff, is it possible to start the trek from Magome to Tsumago after landing at Nagoya the first day and settling the admin you have described (e.g. data, luggage transfer etc)?
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JS
I am so sorry that I saw your comment very late and fail to response promptly. To answer your question, walking distance is 8 km with an elevation gain of 326m of ascent and 430m of descent from Magome to Tsumago. It typically takes around 3.5 hours to walk over the Magome Pass to Tsumago. Depending on your arrival time and time of year (amount of daylight), you could judge if this is a good idea to start the trek on your arrival day at Nagoya. It is best to take it slow and enjoy the journey and not rush when hiking along the Nakasendo.
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