This article is about a remarkably charming place with a notably hard-to-pronounce name.
Are you a photographer? Then come and frame your perfect moment.
Or are you a history bluff? Then come and live in Japan's feudal past.
But most likely, you're a casual tourist like me -- then come and experience one of the most unique and beautiful towns in Japan.
In any case, this article is what I remember of our stay at Tsumago-juku, IMHO the most picturesque town within Japan's historic Kiso Valley, and one of my favorites small towns anywhere in Japan. While some may argue that it has been attentively manicured into somewhat of a tourist trap, its undeniable aesthetic quality has been widely recognized by domestic tourists since the 1960s.
In fact Tsumago-juku is probably one of my top three favorite photographic destinations in Japan, just below the internationally famous Kyoto and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Shirakawago on my list. Japanese photographers and painters had re-discovered this place several decades ago, and were at least partially responsible for bringing its historical and touristic significance to the attention of conservationists. Most Japanese would have at least heard of its name, but somehow it has remained outside of the radar for most tourists -- which is precisely why I highly recommend it.
You're probably asking ... where exactly is Tsumago-juku?
It's conveniently located about 1.5 hours east of Nagoya, easily within day-trip distance if you're staying anywhere near Nagoya, and a fantastic place to spend a night if you're traveling between Tokyo and Kyoto/Osaka. It's not on the Shinkansen (bullet train) route, which is also why it has been able to preserve that rustic small town charm.
That's not to say you won't encounter any crowds ... this is Japan after all. Everyday multiple bus-loads of Taiwanese, Korean and domestic tourists get dumped at the entrance of the town and are given less than an hour to rush through the sights and do their obligatory souvenir shopping. But after the departure of the day-trippers, the bustling town once again reverts to its old rural self that has persisted for the past four centuries.
As I've mentioned in the previous article in this series, Tsumago-juku was one of the 69 official "post-towns," or rest areas, along the old Nakasendo highway that connected the Emperor's ceremonial court in Kyoto with the Shogun's government in present-day Tokyo. The stretch of the ancient route through the town still serves as the main street where the majority of the town's traditional handicraft studios and Minshuku guesthouses are found.
You've got to admire the local government's will in its conservation effort here. In addition to pedestrianizing the main street, all electrical poles, lamp posts and any utility infrastructure that appeared remotely modern had been relocated to underground. So as we strolled into town on a late Friday afternoon, the first impression was just an endless row of individually styled but uniformly antique, two-storey wooden Machiya houses, dimly illuminated by nothing but the faint glow of paper lanterns hanging from the roof of the first floor. That was a magical stroll back to the 1800's.
As if the sunset wasn't impressive enough, the evening would get even better. The entire town became a totally unreal dreamscape ... old wooden houses, the swaying of lanterns in the wind, the dim rectangular glow emitting out of the latticed windows, the light reflections on the smooth cobblestone footpaths, the dark sidestreets ... It's like dreamwalking into a movie where a masked Ninja may jump out at any moment to assassinate a traveling Daimyo. Okay that's my imagination ... but you get the picture.
I highly recommend spending a night in town -- not only for the eeriely unique evening walk, but also for the chance to have the entire town to yourself in the early morning when you can claim all your favorite photospots without any obstruction. A day-trip is doable, but prepare to rub shoulders with coach-loads of tourists inside the souvenir shops and at the several famous sights in town.
One of the most well-known (and well-photographed) attractions in Tsumago-juku is the restored Kosatsuba, the feudal government's official bulletin board announcing the Shogun's edicts and laws to the townspeople and passing travelers. Announcements were handwritten on wooden plaques and strategically positioned here at the most conspicuous spot along the main street, such that nobody could be excused for not observing the laws. The plaques we see today may be modern day replicas, but the contents are genuine historical decrees. The edict at the top dates from 7th Year of the Meiwa reign (Year 1770 in the Western world), announcing an attractive reward for informers against local insurgents consisting of:
- 100 Ryo of Silver ... which was already a lot of money, plus ...
- One officially engraved sword, a great honour for a commoner during an era when only the Samurai class could carry swords.
But my favorite attraction was a place I consider a goldmine of photographic opportunities -- the homey and yet visually impressive former residence of the Hayashi family. Also known by its feudal era designation of Waki-Honjin, this beautiful complex of immaculate rooms and gardens was once the town's second best official reception house for traveling royalties and government personnels. Today it has been preserved as an Important Cultural Property, crowned with a new interpretive museum right next door.
Here you won't find the opulence of Kyoto or even the refined taste of Kanazawa -- instead you'll see a raw, unpretentiously rural residence of a locally influential clan. Back in the days when two government officials would potentially crash into town at the same time, this was where the lower-ranked would grudgingly rough it for a night ... so to speak. As we were welcome into the same greeting rooms that used to receive traveling Daimyos, the old Tatami-mat floors were still adorned by the two square Irori firepits, their flickering flames maintained by museum curators.
If you're patient enough to get past the broken English, the curators will tell you a cool story behind an ordinary-looking table now regarded as one of the museum's great treasures. When Emperor Meiji visited Tsumago in 1880, the local carpenters had to design a new table without the use of any nails, since the nail's head signified the Emperor and hitting on it with a hammer was considered taboo. And while you're there, don't miss the royal toilet built specifically for, but (reputedly) never used by, the Emperor.
There's also a famous love story behind this building. A daughter of the Waki-Honjin's master became the first love of a son of the master of the Honjin at Magome-juku, the next post-town on the other side of the hill. It would have been the perfect marriage if the two were born ten years earlier, but this was right after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan emerged from centuries of cultural stagnancy and opened itself to revolutionary ideas from the Western world. So the boy ended up being sent to school in Tokyo and the girl ended up marrying another man ... or that's how the legend goes. The undisputed fact is that the talented boy became the great poet and novelist Shimazaki Toson, and excerpts from his poem "First Love" is now displayed at the second floor of the Waki-Honjin.
And in case you're wondering what happened to the residence of THE wealthiest family, the original Tsumago Honjin burned down years ago and a replica was rebuilt at the same spot in 1995. But even though the reconstruction has resulted in a traditional, fine-looking modern-day Honjin, it's no comparison to the historical atmosphere of the Waki-Honjin ... the smoky kitchen and its earthen stoves, the under-staircase cabinets, and the colourful carps splashing in the courtyard garden. I would be content to just sit here for hours, and enjoy the good life as it was in the 19th Century.
Regardless of whether you're a photographer or not, definitely don't miss the beauty of the Waki-Honjin. As of early 2009, 700 yen (CAD$7) would get you joint access to the Waki-Honjin, the Honjin, and the interpretive museum, collectively the only attractions in Tsumago that charged admission fees. Further down the street you would find free access to the half-empty shells of several feudal period houses (eg.Kami-sagaya and Shimo-sagaya), good places for brief rests especially on weekends when handicraft artists bring out their wares and give free demonstrations.
One can make a valid point that Tsumago-juku has been over-commercialized into somewhat of a tourist trap, but that also makes it quite a decent place to hunt for authentic, traditional souvenirs among its couple dozen craft shops and studios. Along the length of the main street you'll find anything from hand-made Washi paper to antique furnitures to ... well ... all kinds of fascinating stuff you don't really need. If you're in the market for a pair of wooden clogs for whatever reason (eg. I use mine for taking out garbage), the Eiraku-ya shop pictured here has been producing Geta clogs made of local Nezuko wood for the past 90 years.
But to domestic tourists, perhaps the biggest attraction in Tsumago is the whole nostalgia of the town and of the charming townspeople, and the amazing nonchalant lifestyle enviable to anyone coming from the megapolis of Tokyo or even nearby Nagoya. It's the kind of simple contentment in sitting at the front veranda and watching the funneling of raindrops down the curved roof tiles, or an "Ohayou!" from the elderly Obaasan as she carries her rice seedlings to the field.
So now you can see why I'm recommending an overnight stay if possible, as a daytrip is hardly enough for anything more than just photos and a superficial tour. If you're curious about life in rural Japan but never had the chance, this would be one of the best places for a delicious sampling of the simple life. In fact we loved it so much that we spent two nights in this valley, one at Tsumago-juku and one at Magome-juku, and none at Nagoya.
In case you're worried about the practicality of staying at such a small and rural town, it's actually not as rough as it sounds. Nagoya is less than two hours away (see TRANSPORTATION section at the end), and the town is surprisingly functional with many modern necessities -- general store, medical clinic, police station, post office -- except everything is still trapped inside traditional Edo Period townhouses.
One more recommendation ... if you've come this far, you may as well allocate a few more hours to visit the equally charming Magome-juku, the next post-town along the old Nakasendo route at only 25 minutes away by bus. The last time I checked (early 2009), Tsumago-juku and Magome-juku were putting together a joint proposal towards recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their preservation of late-feudal period townscapes. And if you have even more time, you should consider a 2.5 hour hike into Magome-juku through the old Nakasendo mountain path itself, a satisfying experience to which I'll probably dedicate an entire article in the future.
RESTAURANT CHOICES
A small concentration of informal eateries can be found on the main street, serving simple Teishoku lunch sets, Soba noodles, and the locally famous Gohei-mochi rice cakes. Note that these eateries typically open only for lunch, so make sure you have other arrangements for dinner.
Lunch at Tsumago-juku wasn't even part of our original plan, as I wanted to start our anticipated 2.5 hour hike to Magome-juku in the late morning and have lunch somewhere along the hiking route. But as we replenished our supplies before the hike, the local store owner informed us that there weren't any restaurants past the point of O-Tsumago, and that our best bet would be to fill-up at the "Gohei-mochi san" around the corner.
It was our first visit to the region of Aichi-Nagano and we had never tried Gohei-mochi before, so that's not a bad proposition I thought ...
Food Review: SHINYA (Tsumago-juku)
Address: Nagano-ken Nagiso-machi Azuma Terashita
Hours: 10:00 - 17:00
Website/Map: From Tumago.jp (Japanese)
Directions: Starting from the Information Centre at the centre of the town, walk along the main street towards the southern end. Shinya is near the end of the town, on the right hand side.
So around the corner we walked, where it stood this old take-out stand / noodle-house with about four tables run by an elderly couple. It was a typical setup with Ojiisan pounding the rice and blanching noodles at the back of the kitchen, and Obaasan working the cashier and helping out with boiling soup for the noodles.
I remember the smiling Obaasan "douzo"-ing us to sit down, but I don't remember there being a menu sheet -- the eatery's entire repetoire of four or five items were simply posted on the walls: plain Soba noodles, Soba noodles with Sanzai (wild-harvested vegetables), Soba noodles with a raw egg, and Gohei-mochi rice cakes. Nothing fancy, and nothing over a few hundred yen. It's just a charming little Soba-ya located along the Nakasendo hiking route, with a little fridge of beverages at the front to lure in the occasional thirsty hiker.
Arriving after 10 minutes was my top-of-the-line Tsukimi ("moon viewing") Soba noodles, metaphorically named after the floating egg yolk and served with local wild vegetables. My wife had the Sanzai Soba, which was just the Tsukimi Soba minus the egg for 100 yen less. The handmade Soba was a little greener than the supermarket variety and was served in a light-tasting Dashi broth.
And the Gohei-mochi was EXCELLENT ... that store owner sure knew what he's talking about! I was pleasantly surprised that they weren't made of mochi-rice, but heavily-pounded balls of plain rice brushed with a sweet soy-and-walnut-based sauce and grilled over the charcoal flame. While the outside was grilled to a deeply aromatic, semi-crispy skin, the inside maintained a soft and chewy texture with the rice having been pounded halfway from individual grains into smooth glue. Pictured here was only ONE OF THE SIX mochis ... the rest had been chomped down by the two of us in a hurry.
Bill for Two Persons
| Tsukimi Soba | 800 yen |
| Sanzai Soba | 700 yen |
| Gohei-mochi (6 pieces) | 500 yen |
| Ramune Soft-drink | 120 yen |
| TOTAL | 2120 yen (CAD$21) |
ACCOMMODATION CHOICES
Staying within Tsumago-juku means that you'll definitely get the full Japanese experience at one of the traditional Machiya townhouses, many dating back to the 19th Century, as there are simply no Westernized hotels. The three full-service Ryokans all charge around 10000 yen (CAD$100) per person including dinner and breakfast, while the independently operated Minshuku guesthouses charge around 8000 yen (CAD$80). Or if you're willing to make the 15 minute walk to the little hamlet of O-tsumago, some of the Minshukus there offer the same package for around 7500 yen. It's also possible to book a night's stay without the dinner and breakfast, but where are you going to get your dinner with the entire town closing down around 18:00?
There is no official English booking website at the time of writing (Jan 2009), so the easiest way to book is to directly email the Kiso Reservation Centre at chojiya@janis.or.jp. Provide the following in simple, point form English:
- your date of arrival
- number of nights
- total number of people in the group
- number of rooms required
- whether you want dinner and breakfast
- whether you want a RYOKAN (full-service inn) or a MINSHUKU (guesthouse)
You can specify a certain Ryokan or Minshuku and get them to book it for you, or they'll just book you into one that has experience serving foreign guests. In any case they'll reply with a humorous computer-translated English email to confirm your booking. Here is what I received:
"This time thank you very much for a reservation of the lodging to wife basket inn trip basket bottom Saga-ya ..."
You've got to feel sorry for the guy -- I think he's really trying his best, but the computer-generated translation was just barely comprehensible. After having a good laugh for about 10 minutes, I wrote them again in Japanese and asked for a Japanese confirmation email for the Minshuku we wanted ...
Hotel Review: SHIMO-SAGAYA (Tsumago-juku)
Address: Nagano-ken Nagiso-machi Azuma Terashita 805-1
Price: 8300 yen per person per night, including dinner and breakfast (the pricing scheme advertised on the website is no longer current)
Website/Map: http://www.takenet.or.jp/~sagaya
How To Book: By email to chojiya@janis.or.jp
Directions: Starting from the Information Centre at the centre of the town, walk along the main street towards the south until you see the crooked tree (see the photo at the beginning of the article). There's a tiny little lane on the right hand side, a few houses before the tree. Shimo-sagaya is inside that lane on the left hand side.
This actually turned out to be one of the most memorable stays of the trip ... but not for the reason we expected.
We booked our Minshuku based on a friend's recommendation -- the little Shimo-sagaya hidden just off an attractive stretch of the main street. On one side stood the famous crooked tree featured in every Tsumago-juku brochure, and on the other side, the 200-year-old Ryokan Matsushiro-ya.
Now, this Minshuku is not to be confused with the OTHER Shimo-sagaya next door, a two-centuries-old empty shell of one of the town's oldest houses and a designated historical monument. The Shimo-sagaya Minshuku isn't quite that old, and the interior has been recently renovated to a comfort level approaching some Ryokans. A pleasant surprise for sure ... but not quite enough to make a memorable stay.
The big surprise awaited us at the dinner table, where our full 10-course meal was accompanied by a glass of plum wine as an aperitif. It was a exhaustive sampling of the region's local delicacies including horse sashimi, a salad of Kogomi ferns, wild bamboo shoots and Zenmai ferns as a simmered dish, a dish of tempura and a freshwater fish.
But no, that's still not the memorable part ... the REAL surprise was ...
Deep fried grasshoppers in a sweet mirin-soy-sauce glaze. I have to confess that this wasn't my first encounter with insects as a delicacy, and I wouldn't have been too surprised if this was Bangkok or even Beijing. But right in the middle of Japan? That's a bit of an eye-opener for a self-proclaimed Japanese food lover like me.
As with most insects, the climax of the whole experience was in the anticipation rather than the actual tasting or swallowing. To my tastebuds these little crunchy creatures was little different from anchovies, except without the saltiness of the sea, and the sweetness of the marinate prevented me from really discerning the natural flavor of grasshoppers. Besides, my significant half, the half who possesses the most sensitive tastebuds, natually didn't touch her portion at all.
Though the rest of the meal didn't present further surprises or any superb culinary wonders, the general quality of the dishes were quite good for a family-run Minshuku. The tempura featured my favorite springtime topping again -- the wildly fragrant Yamaudo leaves served with Matcha salt for dipping.
For the FIFTH straight evening an Iwana trout landed on my dinner tray, only this time the fish was simmered in a sweet soy-sauce (Iwana Kanro-ni) instead of being roasted on a skewer, which was a much welcome change. To this day I'm still not a big fan of Iwana trouts, from which one can hardly escape when traveling through the mountains of Central Japan.
At dinner we sat beside a young Thai couple on their honeymoon, along with three other pairs of Japanese tourists arriving on that same day. That's a total of five rooms, which probably was the full capacity of this little Minshuku. Unlike some of the even older Minshuku houses we've stayed at, there was no Irori firepit in the middle of the dinner room around which the guests could gather.
The breakfast was quite decent again, in addition to just being large and filling. I was a little surprised when I saw the scrambled eggs ... scrambled eggs in a rural Japanese breakfast? Or perhaps our hosts deliberately avoided serving raw eggs as a courtesy to the four foreigners? I would never find out, but I did see the Japanese guests happily chomping down the same scrambled eggs that we got.
Our stay at Shimo-sagaya was quite pleasant overall: a spotlessly clean 6-Tatami-mats room, decent dinner and breakfast, and a location that's very tough to beat. Of course the washrooms and bathroom were communal, but that's just how 99.9% of the Minshukus work. Perhaps the nicest feature of all was a full ENGLISH manual of the Minshuku, covering everything from operating the room's Air-Con to meal arrangements to sightseeing recommendations. IMHO this little Minshuku is bound to receive a lot more international tourists for years to come.
TRANSPORTATION
If you're coming from Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, take the Shinkansen train to Nagoya first.
Tsumago-juku is located near the Nagiso Station on JR's Chuo Main Line, east of Nagoya (1.5 hours by local train) and west of Matsumoto (2.5 hours). Note that Express Trains do not stop at Nagiso -- you can take the Express Train to save time getting to the vicinity, but you'd have to get off at the nearest major station of Nakatsugawa and wait for the next local train anyway.
So just to make it clear and easy ... if you're coming from Nagoya, just take the local train towards Matsumoto/Shiojiri. And if you're coming from Matsumoto, just take the local train towards Nagoya and enjoy the countryside scenery for a while!
Once you get to Nagiso you have a few options to reach Tsumago-juku:
(1) Hike into Tsumago-juku, taking about an hour to go through a scenic stretch of the old Nakasendo path
(2) Hire a taxi if you see one around, which should cost perhaps 1200 yen (CAD$12) for the short 5 minute drive. It would make sense if you have three people or more.
(3) Take the bus like we did, which costs 300 yen per person for the 7 minute ride. I haven't come across an accurate and up-to-date English timetable for the bus, but at least the Official Timetable marks "Tsumago", "Nagiso" and "Magome" in English. I've translated the rest below:
NAGISO - TSUMAGO
Daily; 300 yen each way
Nagiso - Tsumago
08:15 - 08:22
10:40 - 10:47
12:35 - 12:42
15:00 - 15:07
17:40 - 17:47
Tsumago - Nagiso
07:44 - 07:53
09:14 - 09:23
11:54 - 12:03
13:39 - 13:48
16:04 - 16:13
NAGISO - TSUMAGO - MAGOME
Daily March to November; Weekends only December to February
Additional service from mid July to end of August
Nagiso to Tsumago 300 yen
Tsumago to Magome 600 yen
Nagiso to Magome 800 yen
Nagiso - Tsumago - Magome
10:10 - 10:17 - 10:45
12:35 - 12:42 - 13:10
14:20 - 14:27 - 14:55
Magome - Tsumago - Nagiso
10:55 - 11:21 - 11:30
13:15 - 13:41 - 13:50
15:00 - 15:26 - 15:35
At Nagiso, the bus stops right outside the train station, usually picking up a small crowd of tourist and daily commuters. The Nagiso - Tsumago - Magome bus is particularly useful for anyone planning on using Tsumago as a base for visiting Magome (or vice versa).
USEFUL LINKS
SIGHTSEEING:
Tourism Association (Japanese) - http://www.tumago.jp
An excellent English introduction - http://www.town.nagiso.nagano.jp/html/english/engtop.htm
TRANSPORTATION:
Bus Schedule (Japanese) - http://www.rosenzu.com/ontake/nagiso.html
Train Schedule Search - http://www.hyperdia.com/
ACCOMMODATION:
Official Reservation Centre (Japanese) - http://www.janis.or.jp/users/chojiya/chojiya.htm
English Reservation Agent - http://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/db/tsumago/
Minsuku Shimo-sagaya - http://www.takenet.or.jp/~sagaya/index4.html
Minshuku Daikichi (Japanese) - http://www17.plala.or.jp/daikiti/
Ryokan Matsushiroya (Japanese) - http://www17.ocn.ne.jp/~hatago-m/
