The Bounty of Nature - Stages of the Nakasendo – From Miyanokoshi to Fukushima

Stages of the Nakasendo
– From Miyanokoshi to Fukushima

Stages of the Nakasendo (16): From Miyanokoshi to Fukushima

Photographed in early November 2003

The Miyanokoshi Stage: Hiyoshi Village, Kiso County, Nagano Prefecture
*** 269km from Nihonbashi, Tokyo / 263km to Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto ***
The Fukushima Stage: Kiso Fukushima Town, Kiso County, Nagano Prefecture

From Yabuhara, we take a road that skirts the mountains (now the Route 19 Highway). Emerging from the Yamabuki Tunnel, we enter the area where Yoshinaka Kiso spent his formative years. There are many famous spots here, as well as a monument. Yoshinaka Kiso appears in Heike Monogatari, the historic romance of the Taira clan. Written at the end of the Heian era some 820 years ago, it depicts the passing of power from the Taira to the Minamoto clan, signaling the start of the Kamakura shogunate.
The Nakasendo Highway was developed in the days of the Edo shogunate around four centuries ago.
We cross the Kiso River, skirt the foot of Mount Yamabuki, and pass through a village around Tokuonji Temple. Then we cross the river again, and come to the Hataage Hachiman Shrine, where Yoshinaka Kiso raised his standard. Inside the Shrine is a huge zelkova tree where he marked his attainment of manhood. From here we can survey the whole of Kiso Fukushima. Nearby stands the Nangu Shrine where Yoshinaka prayed for victory in battle, now surrounded by the reddish hues of autumn.
At this point, the Nakasendo reaches the midway point between Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto. The road ahead is still long. At the northern end of the Miyanokoshi post town, the Gonbei Highway, originally used to transport rice from the Ina region to the post town, continues as if concealed among the mountains. The Southern Alps stretch out beyond the Ina Plain. From there, bags of rice were carried on horseback and delivered to all the post towns on the Kiso road.