Before railways, Japan’s major roads were sustained by a network of post towns (juku-machi or shukuba-machi) — staging posts where travellers rested, changed horses, and obtained provisions. The Tokaido and Nakasendo highways between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto supported 53 and 69 post towns respectively. Many have since been swallowed by industrial development, but a remarkable number survive — some with entire streets of preserved Edo-period architecture that offer the most tangible connection available in Japan to pre-modern road culture.
Magome and Tsumago, Kiso Valley (Nagano)
The Kiso Valley (Kisoji) section of the Nakasendo highway contains two of Japan’s best-preserved post towns. Tsumago, restored in the 1960s in one of Japan’s first major historic preservation efforts, prohibits cars and overhead cables on its main street, maintaining the appearance of an Edo-period shukuba with extraordinary consistency. Magome, further south, sits on a steeper hillside with stone-paved lanes and traditional machiya townhouses, some converted to guesthouses. The hiking trail connecting the two towns (approximately 8 kilometres, 2.5 hours) through forested mountain terrain is one of Japan’s most rewarding short walks and remains historically authentic along much of its route.
Narai-juku, Kiso Valley (Nagano)
Narai is the longest preserved post town in Japan — a single street of Edo-period buildings extending for approximately 1 kilometre. At its peak, Narai was the wealthiest post town on the Nakasendo, prospering from trade in combs, lacquerware, and sake. The main street retains inns, sake breweries, craft shops, and traditional komise (latticed wooden storefront facades) that give it the most cohesive historic streetscape of any Japanese post town. Narai is accessible from Matsumoto by JR train in approximately 50 minutes.
Tokaido Post Towns
The Tokaido’s 53 post towns are less uniformly preserved than those of the Nakasendo, due to the route’s coastal alignment and the density of subsequent development. However, several retain significant historic character:
- Hakone-juku area: The Hakone checkpoint (sekisho) has been reconstructed and functions as a museum, with surrounding forest roads still walkable.
- Mariko-juku, Shizuoka: A single famous building survives — the Chojiya inn, now a restaurant serving tororo-gohan (grated yam rice) as it has since the post town’s heyday. Brevity, but historical continuity.
- Seki-juku, Mie: One of the best-preserved Tokaido post towns in western Japan, largely overlooked by international visitors despite significant historic buildings surviving in a functioning village context.
Waki-Honjin and Honjin: The Architecture of Post Towns
Post town architecture follows a hierarchy. The honjin was the inn reserved for daimyo lords and official government parties. The waki-honjin was for lesser nobility. Hatago inns served ordinary travellers. Several honjin buildings survive and have been converted to museums (Narai, Tsumago, Minakuchi in Shiga), providing direct access to the spatial organisation of official Edo-period travel.
For the broader historical context, the guide to Japan castle towns covers the urban planning of the Edo period that also shaped post town development. Visitors combining post town exploration with the Kiso Valley often use Nagoya or Tokyo as base cities.