Tsumago-juku

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About Tsumago-juku

Tsumago-juku was the 42nd post station of the Nakasendo counting from Edo. With the arrival of the railway, in the early 20th century, far from the village, Tsumago lost traffic and fell into poverty, which ended up preserving the old houses. In the 1960s and 1970s, residents began restoring them and created a community charter with three principles: do not sell, do not rent, do not destroy.

In 1976, Tsumago was one of the first areas in Japan designated as a Traditional Buildings Preservation Area. The main street, of packed earth and stones, has two-story wooden houses with low eaves and lattice windows, and the power lines were hidden to keep the 19th-century appearance. At night, lanterns are lit at the doorways.

The Waki-honjin Okuya house, the village’s auxiliary inn for high-ranking travelers, was rebuilt in the Meiji period using Japanese cypress wood, whose logging had been prohibited in the Edo period. It is an Important Cultural Property and operates as a museum, with the central hearth lit, the room where Emperor Meiji rested, and family objects on display. Next to it, the honjin, the inn for feudal lords, was rebuilt and can also be visited.

The village has family-run inns, wooden craft shops and soba restaurants. Cars stay off the main street. The trail that comes from Magome arrives at the upper part, and many people end their day there, waiting for the bus to Nagiso station.