You hike an old highway Nakasendo strolling through two post-towns. Magome & Tsumago. Strolling around well-preserved popular post towns takes you back to nostalgic Japan. The moment you enter these towns, you will feel as if you are in a time warp back in the Edo period, where local people spend their daily lives as well as welcoming tourists, preserving buildings and the landscape. You also enjoy hiking an old trekking route through mountains.
This itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Send me a message with your requests!
Meeting Point
At the hotel or JR Nagoya Station
- It is better to meet at 7:30 at the latest and buy tickets at the ticket counter of JR Nagoya station at the.
JR Nagoya station
You leave Nagoya by the limited express SHINANO No.3 leaving Nagoya at just 8:00.
Magome-juku
stroll around the town/ Magome is known for the birthplace of a famous novelist Toson Shimazaki. In Magome most houses were rebuilt after a big fire at the end of 19th century, but a variety of shops and museums, such as Toson’s Museum and Shimizuya Museum, attracts many tourists thorough the year.
Magome Mountain Pass
The pass is the highest point in the hiking route and you could take a short break at a cafe.
Ichikoku-shirakiaratame-bansho-ato(old checking point)
You could have a short break in the old farmer's house.
Male and Female Waterfall
This is an oasis with a romantic episode about a legendary sword-master Miyamoto Musashi.
Tsumago-juku
Lunch break & stroll around the town/ Visitors stroll around an authentic traditional town and see a nostalgic townscape which consists of traditional wooden houses. Wakihonjin-Okuya (National Important Cultural Property) is one of the typical buildings in which the Meiji emperor stayed. It is open for everyone to visit and enjoy walking through most rooms and seeing valuable antique goods, while listening to a detailed explanation by a local guide in English.
JR Nagiso station
JR Nagoya station
Ending Point
At JR Nagoya Station
This tour can be customized to meet your needs and preferences. Click below to send me a message with your requests.
guide fee
hotel pick-up
transportation fee about 7000yen/person (you and guide),
lunch about 1600yen/person (you and guide)
entrance fee 1200yen/person for you
*It will cost about 10000yen/person in total.
As this hiking tour is moving through mountain path, we might have to change the itinerary or transportation depending on the conditions of weather;
Tsumago-juku is one of the traditional post-towns of the Nakasendo highway. In the 1960s, this small town was on the verge of deterioration and about to lose its unique features because of development in the wake of modernization. However, it revived through citizen’s preservation movement and was designated as one of the Important Traditional Buildings Preservation Areas by the government.
When you feel hungry or thirsty, some cozy restaurants and sweet shops will satisfy your appetite. My recommendations are Gohei-mochi with green tea or handmade buckwheat noodles, Soba, with Sake. Gohei-mochi is a soft rise-cake with sweet soy-bean paste. You might get hooked on its simple and delicious taste that you’ve never experienced before.
I
I can guide in Kyoto in case you support transportation fee.
Hello everyone. I am Tetsuji. I worked as a public servant in the local government for 35 years. I belonged to the department of Redevelopment, Town-Landscaping, Preserving historical areas and Architectural Guidance. (I have a national 1st-class architect license.) I devoted myself to revitalizing the city by making plans and improving infrastructure for citizens.
Gifu is located in central Japan near Nagoya. As just being the crossroads of the West and the East, there are many unique attractions that are hard to discover in hectic big cities like Tokyo or Kyoto. I had a hand in restoring and preserving some of them throughout my career and want to introduce them to tourists from abroad. That’s why I became a guide-interpreter in Gifu.
I also enjoyed traveling around the world. My favorite part of each trip was walking around the city and talking with local residents. Traveling has taught me lots of things during my lifetime. Now, I would like to help others have similar experience in Japan. Shall we enjoy fantastic journey in Gifu?
Kelioniu A.
“Great time in Tsumago & Magome”
We liked our Nakasendo hike very much. With help of excellent guide, we were even able to visit local museum. Great time and really recommend our guide Mr Tetsuji.
Tetsuji Y.
I am grateful to hear that you are satisfied with my tour, including some praise for me. I hope to accept new requests of guiding from you.
Michelle B.
“Beautiful tour!”
We thoroughly enjoyed our day on the Nakaswndo trail with Tetsuji! He added to our experience with explaining history of the trail and stories of edo era Japan. The walk was beautiful scenery and we loved the tea house we stopped at halfway between Magome and Tsumago. He also did his research prior to the tour to find a Gluten free place to have lunch and helped explain my allergy to the staff of the restaurant. Tetsuji was great and I highly recommend! I will add, the bus system was different from everywhere else we went so it was super helpful to have him there to guide us through it. We added money to our IC card the day prior and found out the day of that the bus system only used yen so keep that in mind. Thankfully we had enough yen on us, but just keep that in mind...you cannot use your IC card for transportation.
Tetsuji Y.
I appreciate lots of praise for my guiding with useful information on transportation in Japan for others. Your explanation is persuasive for others to travel around Japan. I hope to see you without difficulties near future.
Alfonso B.
“Takayama and Shirakawago with Tetsuji”
Tetsuji was an excellent tourist guide. He was our guide first in Takayama and the next day in Shirakawago. He was very cordial and helpful. I recommend him!
Tetsuji Y.
I appreciate your kind words for me. I really had a very happy time with you for two days. I hope that you will come back Japan and spend some time with me again.
$125/ per group