Magome-juku

[ Walking guide ]

Magome-juku

Last post station along Kisoji (Magome-juku)

In February of 2005, Yamaguchi-mura, Nagano Prefecture was incorporated into Nakatsugawa City because of municipality consolidation and Magome-juku has become the first post station after Nakaseno passes into Gifu Prefecture. Magome-juku, which is the 43rd post station along the Nakasendo, is located on the southern edge of 11 post stations along the Nakasendo Kiso, where you can see Mino Province below. In Magome with steep slopes, the buildings which used to be there in the Edo era were burned down due to catastrophic fires in the Meiji Era and Taisho Era, but people living there made efforts to preserve the townscape and reproduced old streets. On both sides of the kaido, water flows swiftly in the waterway. Magome is the birthplace of Toson Shimazaki, a writer in the Meiji Era and in his novel, ”Yoake-mae (Before the Dawn),” he portrayed what life was like in Magome and Nakatsugawa during the period of the Meiji Restoration. Tosen Memorial Museum was built at the honjin ruins, where Toson spent his childhood, upon Toson’s request, and a retreat at honjin remains just as it was.
◆From the Nagano Prefecture border to Magome-juku
The Nakasendo passes from Nagano Prefecture to Gifu Prefecture through Magome Pass. Magome-juku is the southernmost among the 11 poststations along the Nakasendo Kiso and the first post station after the Kisokaido passes into Gifu Prefecture. In Magome-juku, there are houses remaining along the street, which give us a feel for the atmosphere of the post station in ancient times; “Magome Waki HonjinShiryokan,” which tells the story of life in Kisodani; souvenir shops and restaurants in a row. Magome-juku is compact and gives us a feeling of coolness.
◆From Magome-juku to Ochiai-juku
At the border with Magome-juku, there are a stone monument by Toson Shimazaki, “Koreyori Kita Kisoji” and “Shinchaya-no-Ichiri Zuka.” This is the starting point of the Nakasendo Minoji. In the portion from here to Ochiai-juku, there is Zikkoku Pass, which is very steep and one of the three hardest places along Nakasendo and in Zikkoku Pass, there are Ochiai cobblestone pavements, which are designated as a national historic site. You can walk in this portion of the course, imagining what life was like in ancient times. “Shimogeta Bridge,” which is built across Ochiai River below the pass, was portrayed in the ukiyoe (woodblock print) by Hiroshige Utagawa, “Kiso-kaido Rokujukyutsugi-nouchi Ochiai.” This bridge takes you to “Ochiai-juku.”

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