Tsumago is certainly well-preserved. Walking around that morning I saw all sorts of quaint things.

A water wheel.

Some traditional dolls at the former village mayor’s house.

And a straw horse inside what I suppose were the old stalls.

On the subject of forgotten highways, we’re going to Japan now for a slow journey down the Nakasendo. The Nakasendo is the old highway in the main island of Honshu, Japan. It stretches between the ancient capital Kyoto and, at the time, the newer centre of Edo (now modern-day Tokyo). I’m only walking a small 8km stretch between the two mountain towns of Tsumago and Magome. Both of them are located in the Kiso Valley, north of Nagoya, and both of them have an extensive collection of heritage buildings.

Tsumago is the better preserved. The fact that they’ve managed to bury all their overhead cables means that on the surface it hasn’t changed much in appearance since samurais walked the streets. You can see the mountains looming close by. In winter this place inevitably gets cut off from the outside world by many feet of snow.

The buildings are all made of hardwood and the streets still cobblestoned. All in all, in makes for a very quaint atmosphere, in a quiet, Japanese kind of way.

Mind you, it isn’t always this deserted. Because of it’s heritage status it’s really a tourist village and no one (except for a few inn-keepers) actually lives here anymore. I didn’t stay in the village but close by, and was able to come back early one morning before the tourist hordes arrived.