Usui Bridge, Nakasendo

At the base of Mt Tateshina is the former post-town Mochizuki-shuku (#25). Together with Yawata-shuku (#24), Shionada-shuku (#23) and Iwamurada-shuku (#22), the town was absorbed into the city of Saku. 

Mochizuki was known for horse breeding and supplying them to the Imperial Court. The post-town remained small and even though it had business passing through, it went into a slow decline. 

Yawata and Shionada were only 500m apart, separated by the Shinano River, the longest and widest river in Japan. They were connected by a pontoon bridge until it was washed away by a flood and never rebuilt. Instead, ferry services were introduced and used to cross the river. Yawata remained a small post-town and was only used by travellers as a rest point when the river couldn’t be crossed. It also served as a distribution centre for rice. 

Iwamurada was a castle town. It didn’t have any inns during the Edo era. The local daimyo rose to fame when he delayed the leader of the Western Army prior to the Battle of Sekigahara. 

I moved through Otai-shuku (#21), now part of Miyota, to the city of Karuizawa and its former post-towns, Oiwake-shuku (#20), Kutsukake-shuku (#19) and Karuisawa-shuku (#18). As I get closer to Tokyo, I get the distinct feeling that many of the old post-towns have been taken over by big cities and modern life. Whilst there may be small remnants of Edo history, I will likely experience more and more modern aspects from here on. The flavour of this journey will shift from 17th century history to current times. 

With that in mind I noted that Karuizawa, which nearly went into complete decline, was revitalised after WWII and became a summer resort location. It is visited by thousands of people who want to escape the hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Its local fame was sealed in the 1950s when former Emperor Heisei met his wife on a tennis court in Karuizawa and triggered a travel boom to the city. 

Outside of town, I started my trek uphill through the Usui-toge (Pass) and found myself walking through a tunnel for about a mile (1.6km) and exiting on Usui Bridge, an arched 17th century bridge. The tunnel was part of a former railway station and the bridge is the largest arched brick bridge in Japan. Built in 1892, the bridge was used for 104 years until the railway line was closed and the bridge was converted into a footbridge. 

During the Edo era, Usui Pass was a major checkpoint, ensuring that that the wives of the daimyos were not being smuggled out of Edo (they were kept as hostages as a way to keep the daimyos under control), that firearms were not being imported and that the peasants didn’t leave their clan’s territory.