Tsumago-juku
妻籠宿
Nagano Prefecture, Japan · 35°34′43″N 137°35′44″E
An Edo-period post town on the Nakasendō highway, preserved in 1968 by residents who agreed never to sell, rent or demolish, and best seen on the 8 km trail from Magome.
Tsumago was the 42nd station on the Nakasendō, the inland road between Edo and Kyoto, and fell into decline when the railway bypassed it. In 1968 the residents became the first community in Japan to preserve a whole town, with a charter forbidding sale or alteration. Power lines are buried and cars are excluded during the day. Wooden inns, a restored honjin (official inn) and a waki-honjin line a single street.
The Nakasendō trail over the Magome pass, through cedar forest and past waterfalls, takes about three hours.
Why it stays quiet
The Kiso valley is off the Tokyo–Kyoto axis. Day trippers arrive at 11 and leave by 3; stay in a minshuku and the town is empty by evening.
Where it is
Before you go
Luggage-forwarding service between Magome and Tsumago runs in season. Book minshuku ahead in autumn foliage weeks. Bears are present in the hills; carry a bell.
Updated 2026-09-06 · Suggest a correction
