Tsumago town
Japan /
Gifu /
Nakatsugawa /
World
/ Japan
/ Gifu
/ Nakatsugawa
World / Japan / Nagano
town, open air museum, interesting place, historic landmark, historic site, historic district
Magome and Tsumago are two restored and preserved Edo-period way stations on the Nakasendo highway in the Kiso Valley in Nagano Prefecture.
During the Edo period, Tsumago was the forty-second of the sixty-nine post towns, which connected Edo (present-day Tokyo) with Kyoto. Prior to becoming part of the Nakasendō, it was the tenth of eleven stations along the Kisoji, a minor trade route running through the Kiso Valley. As such, it was a relatively prosperous and cosmopolitan town, with an economy based on currency. It fell into obscurity and poverty, however, after the completion of the Chūō Main Line railway, which bypassed Tsumago.
In 1968, local residents began an effort to restore historical sites and structures within the town. By 1971, some 20 houses had been restored, and a charter was agreed to the effect that no place in Tsumago should be "sold, hired out, or destroyed". In 1976, the town was designated by the Japanese government as a Nationally-designated Architectural Preservation Site. Despite its historical appearance, however, Tsumago is fully inhabited, though with tourist shops as the town's main business.
The Nakasendo, like the more well-known Tokaido to the south, was a road connecting Kyoto with Edo (present-day Tokyo).
Tsumago feels the more "authentic" of the two post towns (juku) as it suffered less from fire and began to be protected by the Japanese government in the mid-1970s after restoration efforts by the town's citizens in the 1960s, becoming a model for later preservation schemes in other areas of Japan.
The delightful main street, which is closed to traffic, contains a variety of wooden and plaster Edo-style inns, houses, temples and shrines, with the surrounding, forested mountains as a spectacular back-drop.
Read more: www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=357&pID=1208#ixzz1g0...
During the Edo period, Tsumago was the forty-second of the sixty-nine post towns, which connected Edo (present-day Tokyo) with Kyoto. Prior to becoming part of the Nakasendō, it was the tenth of eleven stations along the Kisoji, a minor trade route running through the Kiso Valley. As such, it was a relatively prosperous and cosmopolitan town, with an economy based on currency. It fell into obscurity and poverty, however, after the completion of the Chūō Main Line railway, which bypassed Tsumago.
In 1968, local residents began an effort to restore historical sites and structures within the town. By 1971, some 20 houses had been restored, and a charter was agreed to the effect that no place in Tsumago should be "sold, hired out, or destroyed". In 1976, the town was designated by the Japanese government as a Nationally-designated Architectural Preservation Site. Despite its historical appearance, however, Tsumago is fully inhabited, though with tourist shops as the town's main business.
The Nakasendo, like the more well-known Tokaido to the south, was a road connecting Kyoto with Edo (present-day Tokyo).
Tsumago feels the more "authentic" of the two post towns (juku) as it suffered less from fire and began to be protected by the Japanese government in the mid-1970s after restoration efforts by the town's citizens in the 1960s, becoming a model for later preservation schemes in other areas of Japan.
The delightful main street, which is closed to traffic, contains a variety of wooden and plaster Edo-style inns, houses, temples and shrines, with the surrounding, forested mountains as a spectacular back-drop.
Read more: www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=357&pID=1208#ixzz1g0...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsumago-juku
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 35°34'36"N 137°35'42"E
- Kawanehon 45 km
- Minakami, Gunma 197 km
- Minamiaizu 250 km
- Tadami 253 km
- Aga, Niigata 294 km
- Shonai, Yamagata 419 km
- Kami 435 km
- Shizukuishi, Iwate 555 km
- Fukaura 611 km
- Ajigasawa 620 km
- Kotoku-ji Temple 0.1 km
- Nagiso Station 2.8 km
- Misaka tunnel 7.8 km
- Seinaiji tunnel 7.8 km
- Hana-no-ko Lake 8.8 km
- Enasan tunnel 11 km
- Takamine Lake 12 km
- Sogen-ji Temple 13 km
- Mount Minamikoma 24 km
- Mt. Kumasawa 26 km
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