TOKYO & THE NAKASENDO TRAIL
September 2026
My daughter lived in Japan for six months in 2023, and we had a fabulous mother–daughter trip to Tokyo and Kyoto, which you can read about here.
My daughter lived in Japan for six months in 2023, and we had a fabulous mother–daughter trip to Tokyo and Kyoto, which you can read about here.
This time, she was keen to organise a family holiday and explore beyond Tokyo. So, we decided to hike part of the historic Nakasendo Trail — a very different side of Japan.
TOKYO
Direct flights from Australia tend to be overnight, arriving into Tokyo’s Haneda or Narita airports around 5.30am. Before leaving Australia, register your details on the Visit Japan website to make your arrival and immigration process easier.
We flew direct from Perth to Narita, then took the Narita Express — about an hour to Tokyo Station — before making our way to The Gate Hotel by Hulic in Ginza.
Narita Express tickets can be purchased at the airport station and seats are reserved. Don’t panic if you miss your booked train or accidentally book a later one — you can still hop aboard and the conductor will let you know where you can sit.
For travel on local Metro and JR lines, you’ll want a Suica card. It’s a rechargeable, contactless card that can be used on public transport across Japan, as well as for small purchases at convenience stores and vending machines.
iPhone users can add Suica to Apple Wallet, while most international Android users will need a physical card, available at stations. You can top it up as you go via your phone or at station machines.
September marks the end of summer in Japan, so the weather can be unpredictable — wet and humid one day, sunny and boiling hot the next. We arrived to a week of rain, which didn’t stop us exploring, but did mean navigating crowded footpaths, puddles and plenty of umbrella collisions! Wear good walking shoes and pack a brolly, poncho or raincoat.
With hotel check-in not until 2.00pm, we dropped our bags and headed to Tsukiji Outer Market. Once home to Tokyo’s famous wholesale fish market, Tsukiji is still packed with tiny shops and food stalls selling everything from fresh seafood and sushi to wagyu skewers, tamagoyaki and matcha treats. It’s busy, slightly chaotic and a great place to wander, snack and soak up your first taste of Tokyo.
There are so many different styles of eateries in Japan, it can be hard to remember what each one is. You can find a quick guide to eateries here.
Ginza is one of my favourite districts in Tokyo. The Gate Hotel is in Ginza 5, within easy walking distance of some great restaurants and bars.
I also love wandering through Ginza’s underground food halls, where locals stop on their way home from work. The displays are incredible — beautifully presented sushi, bento boxes, pastries and sweets that certainly whet the appetite.
We had dinner at Ushigoro Bambina, a small yakiniku restaurant where you grill the meat at your table, followed by drinks at Perori Wine Bar and a nightcap at Bar Titan.
Once our children arrived on Saturday morning, we spent the weekend catching up and exploring Tokyo together. We started in Asakusa, wandered down Kappabashi (Kitchen) Street, ate delicious gyūkatsu near Sensōji Temple and, when the sun finally broke through the clouds, celebrated with champagne at the top of the Mori Tower overlooking the city.
That evening, we bar-crawled our way along the train line, stopping at a couple of tiny standing bars for beers and izakaya-style bites, before finishing the night over bowls of ramen.
A rainy-day Sunday, so we visited Akihabara Entertainment District. This is the place for all things electronic, gaming and anime.
NAKASENDO TRAIL
Nagoya is around two hours from Tokyo by Shinkansen. Located west of Tokyo, it is one of Japan’s major economic centres and home to Toyota Motor Corporation.
As it was a Monday, quite a few museums were closed, but we did visit the Samurai Museum, with its impressive collection of samurai swords, armour and artefacts. It was a fascinating introduction to the samurai culture that played such an important role in Japan’s feudal history.
It was during this period that the Nakasendo flourished as one of the main routes connecting Edo and Kyoto, travelled by samurai, feudal lords, merchants and ordinary travellers. From Nagoya, we headed to Nakatsugawa, where we would begin our journey along this historic trail.
Our main agenda for the afternoon was to stock up on snacks for the next day’s walk. After dropping our bags, we wandered through the old post town, with its historic wooden buildings and remnants of the original Nakasendo route. We also stumbled across a 200-year-old sake brewery — and naturally, it would have been rude not to stop for a tasting!
Wandering the streets, we met an elderly local who took great pride in telling us, in broken English, about her town. She then insisted we follow her to wave at a cat in a window. A little strange, but we went along with it!
The cat turned out to be a maneki-neko, or Japanese beckoning cat. Stand beneath the window and wave, and a sensor triggers the window to open and the cat appears, waving back at you. It was one of the funniest and most unexpected moments of our trip — made even better by how excited she was to share it with us.
NAGATSUGAWA TO MAGOME
Heading off on a misty, drizzly morning, we had organised for our bags to be transferred to our next night’s accommodation, so carried only what we needed for the day. We made our way through Nakatsugawa and set off on the 8.5 km walk to Magome-juku.
Now actually walking the Nakasendō, it was much easier to imagine what this road must have been like during the Edo period. Samurai, merchants and pilgrims once shared the route with huge daimyō processions of horses, porters and servants. Along the way, old rest stops, shrines, traditional houses and water channels are reminders that this was once a busy working road, not simply the peaceful walking trail it is today.
The walk itself isn’t too difficult, although there are some steep sections and the cobblestones can be very slippery when wet. What we found most exhausting was the humidity — around 85% — so carry plenty of water and be prepared for the sun when it does appear. It burns!
There are a few souvenir shops and rest stops along the way, and, in true Japanese style, vending machines seem to appear even in the middle of nowhere. Just remember to carry your rubbish with you, as bins are few and far between.
We stopped in Magome for lunch and a potter around the shops. Many people begin their Nakasendō walk here, so it’s busier than Nakatsugawa, with a large bus stop and several small museums worth exploring.
We stayed at Magome Guest House, a beautifully appointed two-bedroom villa complete with a hot tub and well-stocked kitchen. Our manager, Takumi, was incredibly welcoming, arranging our luggage transfer and even booking and driving us to and from dinner at Haginoya — a lovely end to our first day on the Nakasendō.
MAGOME TO TSUMAGO
We were incredibly lucky with the weather. The day after leaving Nagoya, more than 100 mm of rain fell, causing widespread damage, evacuations and train cancellations. By the time we reached Magome, we were high enough in the mountains to have escaped the worst of it.
Taking advantage of a late check-out, we waited out the heaviest of the morning showers before setting off for Tsumago. This section of the Nakasendō is reputed to be one of the prettiest — and it didn’t disappoint.
The trail climbs through the forest to Magome Pass, before winding down through the Kiso Valley towards Tsumago. Along the way we passed towering cedar and sawara cypress trees - some over 300 years old -, old stone paths and the Odaki and Medaki waterfalls (Male and Female Falls), which were certainly flowing after all that rain!
We also came across an unexpected little piece of history — a cattle shrine, said to be the only one of its kind in Japan. Cattle were once an important part of life in these mountain communities, and the shrine was built to pray for their health and protection.
Tsumago is also known for its traditional woodwork. Rokuro Zaiku, the ancient craft of woodturning, dates back more than 1,000 years, and shops along the main street still sell beautifully crafted wooden bowls, cups and utensils.
If you have time, visit the Waki-honjin Okuya, one of Tsumago’s historic inns. The waki-honjin served as secondary accommodation for high-ranking travellers during the Edo period and gives a fascinating glimpse into life along the Nakasendō. Okuya was rebuilt in the late 1800s using Japanese cypress, and its dark timber interiors, traditional rooms and sunken hearth are beautifully preserved. A short guided tour, conducted in Japanese and English, brings the history of the building to life.
We stayed at Maruya Inn, Tsumago, a traditional Japanese guesthouse that really added to the Nakasendō experience. Rooms are simple and typically Japanese, with shared bathrooms and cosy communal areas where you can relax after a day on the trail. Breakfast and dinner are served in the dining room, with tea and coffee available downstairs. Nothing fancy, but warm, welcoming and wonderfully authentic — exactly where you want to stay in an old post town like Tsumago.
TSUMAGO TO AZUMINO
Saying farewell to the Nakasendō — for now — we wondered whether we might one day return to Tsumago, lace up our walking shoes and continue along the trail.
Our next destination was Azumino, via Matsumoto. The recent heavy rains had caused chaos with train schedules across the region, so we were relieved to find ours running on time. We boarded the train for Matsumoto, leaving the ancient post towns and mountain trails behind for the next part of our Japanese adventure.
Matsumoto is best known for its magnificent Matsumoto Castle, one of Japan’s oldest surviving original castles. Continuing our journey through Japan’s samurai history, the castle gave us another glimpse into the feudal world we had been following along the Nakasendō.
Built in the late 16th century, its striking black exterior has earned it the nickname “Crow Castle”. Unlike many Japanese castles that have been reconstructed, much of Matsumoto’s original wooden keep remains intact. Inside, steep wooden staircases, weapon displays and openings once used by samurai to defend the castle make its military past very real.
Surrounded by a moat with the Japanese Alps rising in the distance, it’s also one of the most beautiful castles we visited.
From Matsumoto, we caught the local train to Azumino, where we swapped suitcases for bikes at Azumino Bike Hire and headed for the Daio Wasabi Farm.
I’d never really thought about how wasabi was grown, so this was a huge eye-opener. The plants take around two years to mature, growing in gravel beds fed by the pristine spring water flowing down from the Japanese Alps. Daio is one of Japan’s largest wasabi farms, with vast fields of plants growing in the constantly flowing water.
Almost the entire plant is used — from the prized rhizome that is freshly grated into the wasabi we know, to the leaves and stems used in pickles and other foods. And, of course, there’s wasabi in just about everything you can buy at the farm — including ice cream!
We spent the night at Villa Yoshino, tucked away in the forest at the base of the Japanese Alps. After days of walking and cycling, our own private, spring-fed onsen felt like absolute luxury. Peaceful, secluded and surrounded by nature — my only regret was that we didn’t stay longer!
For dinner, my daughter had a friend’s Japanese grandmother book us into Cha-Kaiseki Shōgetsu, a tiny traditional kaiseki restaurant tucked away in Azumino. Catering for a maximum of just 16 guests, the restaurant is run by a non-English speaking elderly couple who only open when they have bookings.
They told us they had met when they were just 18, and there was something incredibly special about watching them prepare and serve each beautifully presented course together. The menu celebrates seasonal, local produce, including Azumino rice, home-grown vegetables and handmade miso. It was intimate, personal and one of those wonderful experiences we would never have discovered without a local connection.
We’d had such a special few days together in the Japanese countryside, so it was hard to believe our trip was coming to an end and it was time to head back to Tokyo.
We caught the express train to Shinjuku and navigated our way to our apartment in Shibuya. Located in the heart of the red-light district — with a disco downstairs, no less — the peace and quiet of the past few days suddenly seemed a very distant memory!
Over the weekend, we experienced teamLab Borderless, an incredible immersive digital art experience, and had lunch at Lauderdale when we were craving something other than Japanese.
We also had a Michelin-star dining experience at Issai-Kassai — some of the best food of the entire trip.
In between all the eating, we wandered through the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace and visited Hama-rikyu Gardens, once a retreat of the Tokugawa shoguns. The gardens still contain two historic duck-hunting grounds, where ducks were lured into narrow waterways and hunted using trained hawks.
And to top off our final weekend together, we had a very good burger at Munch’s Burger Shack — made famous after Donald Trump ate there during his 2017 visit to Tokyo.
Then it was time to say goodbye and head home after a very special family adventure.