2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival February 14, 2026 Nagisomachi Tsumago inn Tsumago-juku

2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival February 7, 2026 Nakatsugawa City, Magome inn (Magome-juku) Within the Magome post town, around Fujimura Memorial Hall

2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival February 6–7, 2026 Kiso town Fukushima inn, from Kisofukushima Station to the former Nakasendo area

2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival February 3, Shiojiri City, Narai inn (Narai-juku) Entire Narai-juku

2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival February 1, 2026 — Niekawa-juku, Shiojiri City (within the Niekawa post town)

2026 Kiso Road Ice and Snow Lantern Festival January 24, 2026 Kiso town Hiyoshi Miyanokoshi Around Miyanokoshi-shuku Honjin

2026 Ice and Snow Lantern Festival This enchanting event fills winter nights along Kiso Road with the warm glow of ice candles and bamboo lanterns handcrafted by local residents. Held at post towns and other venues across the Kiso area, it usually runs from late January through mid-February each year. A photo contest will also be held. We look forward to many entries! For details, please see the Kiso Tourism Federation website.

This is the autumn foliage at Nezame-no-toko in Agematsu Town. The vibrant colors add to the usual beauty of Nezame, creating an even more stunning scene!

Autumn Scenery in Nagawacho Mountains in the Wada area, Nagawa Town, and scenes from Nagakubo-juku. These are the autumn leaves you should see and feel in person at the spot. The Wada area has two campsites. Camping here in autumn feels especially wonderful 🍂⛺!! Miyashita Hills Auto Campsite http://www.miyashitahills.jp// TEL 0268-88-2915 Akakura no Mori Auto Camping Ground https://akakuranomori.sakura.ne.jp// TEL 0268-88-3126 Nakasendo Wada-shuku and Nagakubo-juku are particularly charming at this time of year. Please come and visit 😊❤️

Shiojiri-juku Location: Shiojiri City, Shiojirimachi The old Nakasendo route that crossed Misawa Pass, Ono-juku and Ushikubi Pass from Shimosuwa-shuku was abolished in 1613 (Keichō 18). From 1614 (Keichō 19) the Nakasendo was rerouted via Shiojiri Pass and the new Shiojiri-juku was established. The town layout work was overseen by Ogasawara Hidemasa, lord of Matsumoto Domain. He laid out the new Shiojiri-juku in an east–west plan southwest of the old post town. The honjin was one of the largest on the Nakasendo, and the post town also featured a noticeboard area and a Matsumoto Domain checkpoint. Plots in the post town were typically three to four ken wide. By 1843 (Tenpō 14) the town had 166 households, including 75 inns — the largest number among the 26 post towns of Shinshu, due to its position at a road junction below Shiojiri Pass. Major fires in 1828 (Bunsei 11) and 1882 (Meiji 15) destroyed much of the town, but the Ono family house, a National Important Cultural Property, still evokes the town’s former appearance.

[Torii Pass - toriitoge-] Overview A roughly 6 km mountain trail linking Narai inn on the Kiso Kaido with Yabuhara inn. In the Edo period it was famous as one of the Nakasendo’s toughest stretches, a place that made straw-sandalled travelers limp with pain. Today it is a popular, atmospheric trekking route. Hikers from Japan and abroad walk this pass in large numbers. From the summit you can look west to Mitakesan and east to Kiso Komagatake. Along the old road you will find numerous haiku and waka monuments and stone Buddhas, including those honoring Matsuo Bashō. The pass saw battles between the Kiso clan and the Takeda clan in the Sengoku era, and in the late Edo period Princess Kazunomiya passed through here on her marriage procession. Free loan of hinoki conical hats and bear bells! This service lets walkers experience the look of Edo-period travelers, especially those walking between Yabuhara and Narai on the Nakasendo. The traditional original hinoki (cypress) hats, hand-painted with kanji, make perfect travel companions and evoke the spirit of Edo travelers. They’re great for the experience and for photo opportunities. What is a hinoki hat? A hinoki hat is one of Kiso region’s traditional crafts. It remains popular with locals and visitors as a practical fashion item and as a sunshade that traces its roots to the Edo period. How to try them You can try them at the tourist information centers listed below. We refund the full deposit when you return the items. ⚠ The deposit will not be refunded if the item is lost or damaged. (Items may be wet without issue.) Loan locations: ① Narai-juku Tourist Information Center ② Yabuhara-juku Nigiwai Hiroba Enkan ③ Kiso Village Tourist Information Center Addresses: ① 497-3 Narai, Shiojiri City ② 1019-1 Yabuhara, Kiso village ③ Lot 196, Yabuhara, Kiso village TEL: ① 0264-34-3160 ② 0264-36-3020 ③ 0264-36-2543 Opening hours: ① 9:00–17:00 ② 8:30–17:00 ③ 9:00–17:00 Closed: ① During the New Year holidays ② Every Tuesday ③ Every Monday Refundable deposit: 2,000 yen per item Payment method: Cash only

Gohbara-juku (Gohbara-juku) Location: Gohbara, Hirooka, Shiojiri City Gohbara-juku was the first post town on the Zenkoji Kaido after it branched from the Nakasendo at Seba-juku. It was established in Keicho 19 (1614) when Hidemasa Ogasawara, lord of Matsumoto Castle, developed the Zenkoji Kaido (the Hokuriku side route) to connect Nakasendo’s Seba-juku with the Hokkokukaido. Rather than an existing settlement becoming the post town, Gohbara’s original village lay on the east bank of the Narai River in the Ueno land division. When the post station was laid out, the settlement was moved around Genna 5 (circa 1619) to its present site together with the Kataishi hamlet, which had been on the west bank, to create the new post town. Highlights of Gohbara-juku Houses were laid out with wide frontages of five to six ken, featuring main gabled roofs with the short side facing the street and sparrow deterrents on the ridges. Each house has a forecourt with planted trees, creating an attractive streetscape, and shop names are displayed at every residence. Sōetsu Yanagi, called the father of the mingei (folk craft) movement, praised Gohbara-juku in his essays, saying the entire post town was “a single splendid work of art.” On the north side of the post town stands Gofuku-ji, which served as a resting place for Emperor Meiji during his imperial tour in Meiji 13 (1880). Read more about the Nakasendo and the five post towns in the city here↓

Motoyama-juku (Motoyama-juku) Location: Shiojiri City, Soga Honzan Motoyama prospered as the gateway to Kiso Road and the exit from the Matsumoto Plain. Two-story houses with latticework fronts line the streets, preserving a strong sense of the past. The town is also introduced as the birthplace of sobakiri (cut buckwheat noodles). In Keicho 19 (1614), Shiojiri, Seba, and Motoyama were designated as new post towns on the Nakasendo. Unlike Shiojiri and Seba, which were formed by relocating people from neighboring villages, Motoyama developed from a medieval settlement. It was the 32nd station counting from Edo, situated 30 cho from Seba Post Town and 2 ri from Niegawa Inn (Niegawa-juku). The post town divided into Kamimachi to the south and Shimomachi to the north, with the honjin, wakimotonjin, and dispatch office at its center. South of the town stood Hachiman Shrine, Choukyuuji, and Joukouji; to the north was Suwa Shrine, and across the Narai River lay Ikeo Shrine, though some temples were later abandoned. Because Motoyama bordered the Owari Domain in Kiso, a checkpoint was located south of the town to inspect women and timber. In Tenpo 14 (1843) the town had 117 households and 34 inns. Compared with Seba Post Town’s three-ken frontage, many houses in Motoyama had four- to five-ken facades. The town suffered several great fires, but surviving buildings date from the late Edo to Meiji periods. Facing the street, they feature hirairi degekata construction and second-floor rooms with senbon-koshi lattices, retaining much of the post town atmosphere. Notably, three residences built around the Meiji era—the Akiyama Family (Wakamatsuya), the Tanaka Family (Ikeda family), and the Kobayashi Family (Kawaguchi Family)—are registered tangible cultural properties of Japan. The honjin, Kobayashi residence, hosted Princess Kazunomiya, daughter of Emperor Ninkō, when she married Tokugawa Iemochi in Bunkyū 1 (1861), and it later accommodated the Meiji Emperor during his tour in Meiji 13. Each house still carries its traditional shop name, offering a glimpse into the past. The town’s specialty is soba. A note by Unrin in Hōei 3 (1706) in the miscellany Fūzoku Bunsen records Motoyama as the birthplace of sobakiri. Historic sites include the Motoyama Castle Ruins on a small hill behind the town, said to have been guarded by the Motoyama Minbu branch of the Kiso clan; Ike no Gongen (Ikeo Shrine), known for votive plaques for rain rituals, sericulture, and eye disease cures, whose shrine grove is a Shiojiri City natural monument; and the Shitamachi Stone Figure Group, featuring Dosojin, Koshin stone monuments, and inscribed tablets. For articles on the Nakasendo and the city’s five post towns, click here↓

The Nakasendo and Five Post Towns within Shiojiri City Along the Nakasendo, there were 69 post towns stretching from Nihombashi in Edo to Sanjo Ohashi in Kyoto. Although the Shiojiri area had more hills and slopes than the Tokaido, travelers could keep to their planned schedules because prolonged delays caused by river closures were rare. Within Shiojiri, the Nakasendo included five post towns: Shiojiri-juku, Seba-juku, Motoyama-juku, Niekawa-juku, and Narai-juku. 1. Shiojiri-juku (the 30th station from Nihombashi) Shiojiri-juku stood on the border between the Matsumoto and Suwa domains. A checkpoint called the kuchidome-bansho, which inspected rice and prohibited goods, was established there. Honjin and waki-honjin served officials on sankin-kotai, and by the late shogunate period the number of inns ranked second on the Nakasendo and first in Shinano. 2. Seba-juku (the 31st station from Nihombashi) Seba-juku lies at the fork between the Nakasendo and the Zenkoji Kaido. It hosted one of the Nakasendo’s three kanmearisho, offices that measured grain. A great fire in the early Showa era destroyed much of the post town’s appearance, but a stone lantern marking the old fork remains. 3. Motoyama-juku (the 32nd station from Nihombashi) Said to be the birthplace of soba-kiri noodles, Motoyama-juku prospered as the gateway to Kiso and the exit of the Matsumoto Basin. Its honjin accommodated Princess Kazunomiya when she married Tokugawa Iemochi, and later served as lodgings during Emperor Meiji’s imperial tour in Meiji 13 (1880). 4. Niekawa-juku (the 33rd station from Nihombashi) Niekawa-juku marks the entrance to the eleven post towns of the Kiso Road. Niekawa Sekisho checkpoint guarded this key transport chokepoint on the Nakasendo, and the town developed through lodging services and long-distance trade. 5. Narai-juku (the 34th station from Nihombashi) Famed as “Narai Senken” with a thousand bustling shops in its heyday, Narai-juku still preserves much of its historical atmosphere and today draws many visitors as a popular tourist destination.

MAUKA LANI GOAT FARM Outdoor live event announcement 🐐🎵 Saturday, October 4, 2025 An outdoor live event will take place at Mauka Lani Goat Farm (a goat ranch) in the Hirose area!! You can enjoy a special free concert featuring HIDEKATSU CHIWATA, who wrote and composed the theme song “Butter-Fly” for the popular anime Digimon Adventure, and singer-songwriter Dai Okajima! Mauka Lani Goat Farm is a goat ranch inspired by Hawaii. Goats roam freely across the spacious pasture. The shop sells unique goat cheeses, original shop goods, and Hawaiian drinks! Relax and enjoy a leisurely time in the pleasant autumn weather ✨ A shuttle bus will run from JR Nagiso Station and Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) 🚌 (one-way 1,000 yen) Please use it if you don’t have a car or are a student. To make a reservation, contact Nagiso Town Tourism Association at 0264-57-2727. For more details, please check the website.

Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) Vehicles are prohibited from passing through from 10:00 to 16:00 🚗⚠ Recently, the number of cars entering the post town during the restricted hours has been increasing. This restriction is in place to protect pedestrians and the historic streetscape, so we ask for your understanding and cooperation. Please park in the No.2 parking lot or the central parking lot along National Route 256. The parking fee is 500 yen per day.

Chowa Town Nakasan-do Eitai Jinba Service Station (Reception Hut) Please do not litter In Chowa Town and the Ueda area, instead of a "litter-free Jizo" there is a "litter-free little monk"? It quietly stands in the parking area of the Eitai Jinba Service Station (Reception Hut) near Wada Pass. This place was originally established by Kaseya Yohei of Edo Gofukucho, and it is said that, to ease the hardships of travelers crossing the pass, free porridge, campfires, and fodder for horses and people were offered. #Chowa Town #Nagano Prefecture #Nakasendo #Wada-juku #Eitai Jinba Service Station #litter-free Jizo

Access You can reach Nagiso town mainly by JR train, local bus, or taxi. Here is information about timetables and how to ride the buses 🚌✨ You can also check the access page on the official website! Search for "Nagiso Town Tourism Association" or "Burari Nagiso" 🔍 ▶︎ Bus ・Services are infrequent, so please check the times in advance ⚠️ ・How to ride is shown from image 7 onwards ・Bus tickets are sold at the Tsumago tourist information center (for Tsumago–Magome or within the town only) ・You can pay the driver in cash when getting off (2000-yen, 5000-yen and 10,000-yen bills are not accepted) ・To avoid congestion when getting off, please buy tickets in advance whenever possible 🎫 ▶︎ Taxi Nagiso Sightseeing Taxi 🚕 Office: Tsumago First Parking Lot Hours: 7:00–19:00 (may change in winter) ※ Taxis are usually stationed at Nagiso Station ※ Outside business hours, please reserve in advance ※ During busy times it may be hard to arrange a taxi immediately, so allow plenty of time to travel here ▶︎ JR Nagiso Station — Ticket Office 🎫 Hours: 7:50–16:05 Closed: 11:10–11:30, 12:35–13:15 ※ IC cards are not supported ※ Outside business hours, board without a ticket and pay at your destination station (please take a numbered boarding ticket when boarding) ※ Credit cards are not accepted 💳❌ ※ There is only one ticket window, so it becomes very crowded in the evening. We recommend buying tickets during the quieter morning hours or in advance at another station ※ Nakatsugawa Station accepts credit card payments ※ IC cards can be used between Nakatsugawa Station and Nagoya Station ▶︎ JR Nagiso Station — Tourist Information Hours: 8:00–17:00 Closed: 11:10–11:30, 12:35–13:15 If you need help, please feel free to drop by ✨

📍Tenpaku Park (Tenpaku Kōen) Mitsuba azalea and Oshima cherry: Peak viewing Flowering peach: Buds to 50% open 📍Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) Cherry blossoms: Beginning to fall The weather has been fine since this morning☀️ The evening regional buses are very crowded with guests who went hiking. Buses and trains (JR Nagiso Station) do not accept IC cards or credit cards. Please purchase tickets in advance or try to travel outside peak times to help avoid congestion.

Nagawacho Karasawa's Dosojin Shrine A Dosojin shrine near the Karasawa ichirizuka (one-ri mound) on the Nakasendo road. For many, many years, it has stood here as proof that it watched over this place... A pine tree is growing between the stone monuments 😮

Nagakubo-juku Museum “Ippukusho Hamaya” and Wada-juku Museum have opened for this season. The camellia in the Ippukusho Hamaya parking lot is blooming beautifully.☻ Many of the plum blossoms at Wada-juku Honjin were still buds.💦 Is spring still a little way off…?🌸

Nakatsukendo Ichirizuka — 51 ri from Edo The snow has finally melted, and I was able to go 😊 The ichirizuka at Karasawa, Wada, Nagawacho still preserves two large mounds on either side of the road. These mounds were built as landmarks for travelers along the Nakasendo. It’s a very atmospheric spot that evokes the past.

Nagawacho Wada Kyuin Shrine "After a heavy, continuous downpour, floods swept through and clusters of earthworms about one shaku long died. After that, an epidemic broke out in this area and caused a great uproar. People said, 'It's the curse of the earthworms,' so they built a small shrine and enshrined the earthworms." Kyuin (earthworm) may have transformed into a deity, and it is called 'Okin-sama.' The earthworm's form is... 😘

Nagawacho Wada along the Nakasendo A stone monument erected near the side path toward the Mimizu Shrine. Can you see that it says “mimizu”? It’s such an adorable Mimizu-sama (Okin-sama) 😊

Nagawacho Wada Along the Nakasendo Road: Dosojin 2 and Spring Water A pair of dosojin leaning close together like a loving couple💕 Beside them, a spring bubbles up... A water-rich, warm-hearted community 😊

Dousojin along the Nakasendo in Wada, Nagawacho Along the Nakasendo in the Wada Area, you can see several dousojin 😊 Are those children enjoying a shishimai dance...? Their faces are so adorable 🥰💕

Nakasendo Ichirizuka — Fifty ri from Edo An ichirizuka monument stands at Kajiashi Intersection in Wada, Nagawacho. The nearby stone stele reads, “Left: Matsuzawa Footpath · Right: Suwa Kaido.” The right is the old Nakasendo. The 51st ri mound is located in Karasawa, Wada, Nagawacho, and the earthen mounds that once lined both sides of the road still survive.

📍Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku) For travel memories and gifts for someone special. Buy local products or artisans’ creations as proof that you visited on your own two feet. Every time you see them, the memories come flooding back—that’s the magic of souvenirs. These days people talk more about experiences than things, but cherish the spark in your heart…💗💭

Nakasendo Ichirizuka Milestone: Forty-nine ri from Edo A monument marks the site of an ichirizuka milestone between Nagawacho Nagakubo-juku and Wada-juku. Beside it stands a haiku stone inscribed with the kigo “Mt. Asama.” Still, the charming little house-shaped building behind the ichirizuka monument catches my eye...🙄 For reference, the fiftieth ri mound sits in Wada, Nagawacho, and the forty-eighth ri mound is in neighboring Tateshina Town.

Hyosetsu no Akari Festival 2025 On Saturday, February 15, 2025, the Hyosetsu no Akari Festival (Ice and Snow Lantern Festival) returns to Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku)! About 600 ice candles will be lit, creating a magical scene unlike the daytime view. This year, in addition to shops open for evening business, the tourist information center will offer free pork miso soup and hot lemonade, and food stalls in front of the Fureai Hall will sell items such as fried chicken and pizza. Visitors can also enjoy colorful ice art by the Tsumago Women’s Association and an ice exhibit by local Sonan High School students. On that day, Nagiso Sightseeing Taxi will operate until 8:00 p.m. Enjoy this once-a-year lantern festival! Photographers are encouraged to enter the Kiso Tourism Federation photo contest📸✨ Date: Saturday, February 15, 2025 Time: Lighting at 5:30 p.m. Location: Tsumago inn (Tsumago-juku), Nagiso town (399-5302 Azuma, Tsumago-juku, Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture)