Kiso valley Travel Video Guide

Kiso valley Travel Itinerary

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For a taste of how Japan once looked, minus the concrete buildings and neon signs, head for the densely forested river valley of Kiso , southwest of Matsumoto, between the Central and Northern Alps. Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu chose this valley as part of the route for the 550-kilometre Nakasendo, one of the

five main highways linking his capital Edo (present-day Tokyo) with the rest of Japan. Eleven post towns ( juku ) lined the Kisoji (Kiso road) section of the Nakasendo, and three of them - Narai, Tsumago and Magome - have been preserved as virtual museums of the feudal past. This is also good hiking terrain; Tsugamo and Magome are linked by an easy three-hour hiking trail, which follows the original route of the Nakasendo over the hills and through the forests.

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