Field Trip to Nakatsugawa

Thanks to the generosity of the Seto Japan-China Friendship Association, we took international students on a field trip to Nakatsugawa. The Nakasendo Road was one of the five major routes of the Edo period, connecting Kyoto to Tokyo. It was used by imperial princesses traveling to marry into the shogunate family. Among them, the grand procession of Princess Kazunomiya, who married the 14th shogun Tokugawa Iemochi as part of the late Edo period policy of uniting the court and military, is said to have been as splendid as a picture scroll. Today, charming post towns still remain along the route. The Nakasendo also served as the setting for various literary works. Magome-juku, where Shimazaki Toson — born in Magome — wrote his historical novel Yoake Mae (Before the Dawn) set in his hometown, is located at the southern end of the Kiso Eleven Post Towns, offering a panoramic view of the Mino region below. Magome-juku is a post town with a charming streetscape and stylish stone-paved slopes, where the hillside road and surrounding buildings have an old-fashioned beauty. We enjoyed the scenery of the Edo period.