Tsubashi, Nakasendo

I travelled along the banks of the Kiso River to Ota-juku (#51), now Minokamo, with delightful views of the river that was briefly interrupted by a short jaunt through a forest with a narrow trail beautifully paved in stone. 

Ota was an important local administrative centre ruled by one of the strongest clans in Japan that was affiliated with the Tokugawa shogunate. Located at the confluence of Hida River and Kiso River, Ota was also an important river crossing location. Flooding was common after the snow thawed, making the crossing and this section of the journey one of the most difficult. 

There is a famous story of Princess Kazu Chikako, who in 1862 travelled from Kyoto to Edo along the Nakasendo to get married to shogun Tokugawa Iemochi. Her retinue of 25,000 men banked up the highway creating a traffic jam that lasted for weeks. When she arrived in Ota she stayed at the local inn. Although her nuptials were arranged to repair the relationship between the Imperial court and the Tokugawa shogunate, her brief marriage to Iemochi was a happy one. When Iemochi died three years later, Princess Kazu became a nun and spent her days writing poetry and calligraphy. Memorial stones along the Nakasendo commemorate her journey. 

The town of Mitake holds within its borders two former post-towns: Fushimi-juku (#50) and Mitake-juku (#49). Interestingly, Fushimi-juku was the last post-town built, whilst its neighbour Mitake-juku was the first official post-town on the Nakasendo. Fushimi was created in 1694 when the flow of the Kiso River shifted and a new location for ferries to cross the river was needed further upstream. It prospered for a while but with other nearby post-towns it remained small. Whereas Mitake-juku was built in the early 800s and served as a post-town for older routes before becoming part of the Nakasendo. 

Passing through several hamlets, I entered the woods on a narrow and rugged trail. A thick forest of bamboo lined parts of the route and then it commenced a steady climb towards the next post-town.