Koi ponds along the Nakasendo Trail

I had the privilege of visiting Central Japan in late spring this year, travelling through the post-towns and villages along the Nakasendo Trail, crossing the Japanese Alps and visiting cities like Matsumoto, Kanazawa, Takayama, Hiroshima, Mijyajima and Kyoto. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to visit Niigata, home of the nishikigoi. Nevertheless, I had the chance to see many Koi ponds during my journey. I would share some of the interesting places with Koi in the next few posts, starting with the Koi ponds I saw along the Nakasendo Way.

Firstly, a quick introduction to the Nakasendo Trail. The Nakasendo Trail or Nakasendo Way is an ancient 533km trail established in the Edo period (1603 to 1868) that connected Edo (now Tokyo) to Kyoto, the imperial capital. During those times, travellers would rest each night at juku or post towns. Today it is still possible to walk part of the route and stay in small local minshuku (guest houses) or ryokans. In particular, my journey involves only about 35km of walking plus a few bus and train transfers between the Kiso Valley towns of Magome, Tsumago and Narai. 

My journey along the Naksendo started at Magome, one of the beautifully restored and preserved Edo-era post-towns. Getting to Magome involved taking a train from Nagoya International Airport (where I landed) to Nakatsugawa (which incidentally is also a post-town along the Nakasendo but not as well preserved as Magome), and then transferring to a local bus to Magome. The journey took about 2 hours and transported me from modern Japan to rural Japan.

My first glimpse of rural Japan when I stepped off the bus at Magome was this view. The rice planting season has started. Magome is just 50m away and uphill from where I alighted.  The main street of Magome is paved with cobblestone and is lined with old, lattice-windowed residential houses, museums, tea houses, and souvenir shops on both sides. It made one feels like being transported back in time, to the Edo period hundreds of years ago.

There were a couple of ponds and water features along the main street but I particularly like the small pond located near the other end of the town. The naturally set pond is surrounded by spring flowers. As the pond is small, it contains only a few metallic ogons.

From Magome, we walked around 8 km (about 3 to 4 hours at a leisurely pace) over the Magome Pass to Tsumago. This trail is one of the best trails along the old Nakasendo. We got to see a Japan that is very different from what the usual visitors got to see in Japan.

A preserved section of the old Nakasendo Trail between Magome and Tsumago.

Rice paddies just outside of Tsumago.

Tsumago is very different from Magome in that it has a more rustic and rugged feel. I managed to book my stay at the Fujioto Ryokan in Tsumago and this is an excellent place to stay while visiting Tsumago. The bonus is that this ryokan has a beautiful front garden with a large and impressive Koi pond that I got to enjoy during my stay.

Front entrance of the Fujioto Ryokan. The garden is located on the left side. 

This pond has an informal layout that blended into the overall garden with numerous large rocks and a stone bridge across the large pond. The pond is aerated by a small waterfall. It was interesting to see the fishes jousting for positions beneath the waterfall.

There is a second pond in the middle courtyard, next to the dining hall. This pond is full of colourful comet goldfishes instead of koi. I spend some time relaxing by this pond after dinner.

About 2 km north of Tsumago is another post town called Nagiso. As we arrived early at Tsumago, we decided to walk this section of the Nakasendo Trail on the same day. We took a taxi to Nagiso and then taking about 1 hour to walk from Nagiso back to Tsumago. The trail between Nagiso and Tsumago passes through bamboo forest and also residential area between the two towns.  Most Japanese houses have some sort of water feature outside their main entrance. More lavish ones would have Koi ponds. In this part of the world, there is low crime or no crime and everyone seems to know everyone in the town. There is no fencing between houses and travellers along the trail could walk to the edge of the ponds to admire the Koi and the garden without restrictions.

One such pond features a large water wheel, quite a common sight in these rural towns. The water is crystal clear as can be seen in these pictures. Unfortunately, the fish are mostly chagoi and none of the nicer varieties were seen.

After going through a small bamboo forest, we came to another hamlet where more Koi ponds could be seen along the trail.

Travellers on the Nakasendo Trail can stand up close and admire the ponds while taking a breather.

After an overnight stay at the fabulous Fujioto Ryokan in Tsumago, we took the train to Narai, another of the post town further down the Nakasendo Trail.

Narai is another nice preserved post-town. There are no modern buildings and the look and feel is almost like Tsumago. One feature of the houses in Narai is that the second floor roof is longer and overhangs the first. These eaves extend further to overhang the entire building and protect the interior from rain. The same design and practice of using stones to hold down the metal roof sheets can be also seen on some buildings.

Using Narai as our base, we walked to Yabuhara and then took a train back to Narai. This stretch of the Nakasendo is about 6.2 km and includes crossing the Torii-Touge Pass which is one of the more difficult trails for travellers. We stayed overnight at the Iseya Ryokan in Narai. Iseya Ryokan is located centrally within Narai and is a good place to stay while walking the Nakasendo. After the exertion of crossing the Torii Touge Pass, a hot bath followed by Kaiseki dinner is heavenly.

Iseya Ryokan also boasts of a nice garden and Koi pond in its courtyard.

Beautiful garden and koi pond at the Iseya Ryokan in Narai, a post-town along the Nakasendo Trail.

I really like the informal layout of the pond, with overhanging low pines, well sculptured trees, stone lanterns and rocks on the edges. A purple maple tree adds accent.

Unlike the ponds I saw earlier, the pond at Iseya has much nicer nishikigoi.

Narai was the last town that we visited along the Nakasendo Trail. From there we continue our journey by train to Matsumoto, Kanazawa and Takayama.

I will share the interesting Koi fishes I spotted in Takayama in my next post.

You may enjoy reading about my travels along the Nakasendo Trail in this blog.