The Nakasendo Like You’ve Never Seen Before | Van Life Japan

The Nakasendo Like You’ve Never Seen Before | Van Life Japan

The Nakasendo was an old highway in the 
Edo period connecting Tokyo and Kyoto with 69 post towns along it where travelers would 
rest. However, only three of those post towns, all located here in the Kiso Valley 
in Nagano and Gifu Prefectures, have become popular with tourists for how well 
they’ve been preserved, while the rest of the Nakasendo and other nearby sites, have been 
forgotten. In this video, I check out some of those tourist hotspots while also venturing 
off the bean path in search of hidden gems, with a couple of guest appearances. I’m Ryan and 
this is part of my van life adventures in Japan. After a quick morning coffee, my first stop 
was the 33rd post town along the Nakasendo. Niekawajuku. Although it looks more or less like a 
typical countryside village now with the exception of a couple Edo era buildings, it does have a 
museum replica of an old security checkpoint. When I paid my entry and signed in, I saw only 
two other visitors had come through all week and neither were foreigners. The man at the counter 
was pretty excited to see me and was kind enough to show me around the museum and explained how 
the checkpoints worked. During the Edo period, the Tokugawa Shogunate created these 
checkpoints to ensure merchants would have proper permits (especially lumber here 
in the Kiso Valley), they were not smuggling illegal goods such as firearms, and also 
to ensure the wives of feudal lords were not escaping Edo since they were kept there as 
hostages to prevent any potential uprisings, particularly in faraway regions where the 
shogunate didn’t retain as much control. After a very informative visit at the checkpoint, 
I decided to see if Niekawa had anything else to offer and just wandered. I actually happened 
to be running out of cash, but lo and behold, there was my bank, which is pretty surprising 
considering Niekawa has around 80 residents. For those of you considering living in Japan, 
I will say Yuch Ginko is quite convenient since it’s literally everywhere, which was the 
main factor in me choosing it since I’m always on the move. Not an ad, just thought 
it could be useful for some of you watching. There didn’t seem to be much else that was 
historically significant, but it’s always crazy to me what you can stumble upon with no plan, 
a sense of adventure, and a bit of curiosity. [Music] Continuing down the Nakasendo, I turned 
onto a forest service road that me meandered up the mountain until I lost phone 
service. In my research of the area, I came across something I had to check out. I’m going to bring is bear spray and bear 
bell just in case. This is an abandoned mountain village. Although I could hardly find 
any information on this forgotten settlement, it doesn’t seem like it would have had 
any connection to the Nakasendo despite its proximity and probably only existed in 
the 20th century until it was abandoned in what I assume would be the 80s or ’90s, 
judging by the possessions left behind. [Music] [Music] [Music] Only a few houses remained standing, but there 
was obviously enough of a population to even sustain a school, so I imagine many of the houses 
are already lost to the hands of time. Out of respect to the past residents, I won’t mention the 
name of this place, but like any place I visit, those that truly want to find it will be able 
to with a bit of research. Well, that was an interesting but slightly terrifying experience. 
So, uh let’s get back to some civilization, shall we? And back to the Nakasendo I went, 
but not to the next post town quite yet. Although it is a stop along the Nakasendo, Kiso 
Hiasawa was not a post town, and that’s because it was more dedicated to craft than hosting 
travelers, which we’ll see in a bit. First, I wandered the streets, which I had all to myself 
other than a couple locals. I was amazed by the preserved streetscape. I couldn’t believe 
this place is not talked about more. [Music] Man, I’m absolutely dying right now. I must 
be like mid 30s, I gotta find some shelter somewhere. To take shelter, I found a lacquerware 
shop, the specialty craft in Kiso-Hirasawa. If you’re wondering what lacquerware even is, 
it’s most often wooden objects coated in many layers of sap from lacquer trees, making the 
objects more durable. After a few minutes looking around, I was greeted by the shop owner 
who apologized for the fact that there were no cafes or restaurants to take refuge from the 
brutal heat and insisted on giving me some iced matcha. She then invited me to check out 
their warehouse where they make the lacquerware and their craftswoman was able to tell me more 
about the extremely complex process. Learning about these traditional crafts always amazes me 
because one, how did anyone ever figure this out? And two, I think it’s amazing people still 
value these handmade crafting techniques, even if it comes at a much higher price than 
their mass-produced counterparts. My visit was unfortunately cut short as the afternoon 
thunder seemed to arrive just overhead. So, I needed to get back to the van. 
Started raining on me a little bit here. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. Starting to get rained 
up. Time to run it back to the van. That was really Oh my god, look at these. It’s 
hail. That’s crazy. That was uh some really a really close call cuz I almost got caught up in 
this. Just barely made it back to the van. Wa! The storm passed and left a moody atmosphere 
with clouds hanging low in the mountains. So, I headed to the famous 34th 
post town, Narai-juku. [Music] Okay, so I parked at the Michi-no-eki, 
the roadside station at Narai-juku, so I could basically just hop out in the 
morning and get here before the tour buses and stuff get here, assuming they do come 
here. And uh yeah, I think I’m coming across here the main shot that everyone sees of 
Narai-juku. Not bad. Hardly anyone here. Narai-juku was considered the midway 
point between Edo and Kyoto and the richest of all the post towns. Sometimes 
referred to as Narai of a thousand homes. You can see why as the buildings line the main 
avenue almost uninterrupted for a kilometer. [Music] I will say I’ve seen probably a million photos of 
Narai-juku, but it’s usually that same shot I just showed at the beginning. Uh, and seeing in person 
is actually incredible. It’s one of those places you just you just got to see in person. At this 
hour, it was very tranquil, but no shops were yet open. So, I wandered the side alleys, making sure 
to visit the shrines and temples along the way. [Music] [Music] Well, that about does it for Narai-jjuku. 
I spent a good couple hours wandering the streets and exploring every little 
temple and shrine that I could find. So, it’s time to head over to the next post town. 
But because of the geography of the region, the Narai River actually originates in the 
south. So the valley kind of veers off. And so travelers making the journey between Tokyo and 
Kyoto at the time had to make a traverse over this pass called Tori Pass, which apparently at 
the time was one of the most treacherous of the whole journey. And I anticipate that it will 
be pretty treacherous for me too in this heat. But the good thing is I don’t think there will 
be many tourists, if any at all, up there. So, I’m quite excited to retrace the steps of the 
travelers at the time. You can actually access it from right here in Narai-juku. But because 
I’m here with the van, I’m not going to make the pass. I’m going to drive around to the next 
post town, hike up, and then hike back down. [Music] Well, there you have it. I’m at the midpoint of 
Tori Pass. I’m going to head down to the next post town after Yabuhara-juku, which is Fukushima-juku. 
Well, as soon as I got to Kushima Juku, it started raining on me. Those thunder clouds that I could 
hear rumbling in the distance seems to be a trend that every afternoon uh they roll in and it starts 
raining, but it’s not as hard as it was yesterday. So, I’m going to take my chances and uh try to 
go explore. Maybe it’ll still be a nice vibe. Kiso-Fukushima doesn’t always make the cut when 
people are choosing their Nakasendo itinerary, but it’s well worth the stop. Back in the day, 
it was home to one of the four main “sekisho” or security checkpoints, which I visited a couple 
days prior. And you can go to the museum here as well to learn more about it. Otherwise, 
Kiso-Fukushima is a quaint little town and also has some beautifully preserved streets. 
So, there’s actually a “ashiyu” right there, a foot bath, so, I’m going to check it out. 
Even though I don’t really feel like putting my feet in hot water right now, despite the sun 
now being gone, it’s still not cold. Oh, well, just kidding. It’s closed. But, uh, maybe 
it’s only open in the winter. I’m not sure. But this would be sweet when the weather 
is cold. Enjoying the view of the river. Oh boy, we got lightning real 
close. I just saw I hope it’s not going to start dumping 
on me like it did yesterday. [Music] [Music] So sick. I could be wrong, but I think 
the storm is above me now. [Music] The next day was quite a bit different from 
exploring the old post towns. I met up with my friend and fellow van life enthusiast 
Hayato to get some relief from the brutal July heat. Continuing down the Kiso Valley 
where the post town of Nojiri used to be, we turn into a narrow river valley 
by the name of Atera Keikoku. Even though they’re both hiaces, Hayato’s 
“Mars rover” absolutely dwarfs mine. they used to see bears here. Alright, we just find found a sick spot. Water’s so clear. 
It’s a perfect clip jumping spot. We just need to find a way uh back up. Flowers blooming 
here. Like, what the heck? Is this paradise? [Music] [Music] We back flipped like probably 
seven times into the same spot, but uh now we’re going to go try to 
find a different spot to dive in. All right, we came back to get a different mode 
of transport so we can explore more freely. Woo! [Music] Bye-bye. [Music] We’re bad influences. We roped these 
people into cliff jumping with us. Woo! Woo! Woo! All right, next we are going to this 
Name Nezame-no-toko. It’s just 20 not even 20 minutes away from Atera Valley, 
but I don’t actually know how you get down there. [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Man, we’ve had such an insane day of 
adventure, but rain has just started uh falling a little bit. We found a free 
free campsite, I think. Uh so we’re going to go check it out now. Hopefully that’s 
the case. Uh it seems really nice, too. We got monkeys. Hello, monkey. Okay, we’ve arrived at the free campsite 
and we cannot believe it’s free. We got draft beer here. That’s crazy. 
But we already bought beer. And then a soft cream machine. Might indulge in that later. [Music] When I last posted Hayato’s van on my Instagram, I had several requests for a van tour since it’s 
so cool looking. So, here’s a quick one. Hayato runs his own business converting vans, and he 
converted his van out of an old fire truck. So, he’s got all the lights, too, from the 
old firet truck. So, these Oops, so bright. Got that really bright at night. Obviously, it’s 
daytime, so you can’t tell. And then there’s lights on top, too. One right there. 
That also is like a revolving light. So, for movie nights out in the wilderness, 
this would be crazy. And on the inside, got a couple seats here with his 
workspace. Got a hammock here, which I was uh chilling in last night. 
And then big mattress too, and a TV. Bye-bye. See you. I stuck around the campsite 
for a couple more days getting work done since there’s reception, they 
have outlets, there’s a river nearby, and this is also when I hiked Kiso Kagatake, 
which you can find in my last video. This campground and any other free 
park up I’ve been to is painted in my Ultimate Van Life Japan map available 
on my Patreon. Link in the description. For the last portion of my Nakasendo 
adventure, I met up with my friend Stephen, a fellow van lifer who has also recently 
started YouTube documenting his adventures. This section between Tsumago-Juku and Magome-Juku 
is the most popular as we soon find out for very good reason. Yo, Stephen, what do you think about 
this? This place is crazy. It is so beautiful. All these Edo style houses. It feels like probably the 
most authentic one that I’ve been to so far. Yeah, personally, I think already we’ve been 
here for 10 minutes and it’s already my favorite out of Narai-juku, Fukushima-Juku, 
all the Jukus we visited in the past few days. [Music] [Music] Luckily, Steven is also into exploring the 
lesser scene spots because before commencing our 8 km walk over to Magome, we snooped 
around looking for cool nooks and crannies, eventually finding ourselves enveloped by 
bamboo forest in a Tsumago Castle Ruins Park. [Music] [Music] Oh boy. I’ll be 
right. 8 km. Are you ready? Let’s go. Try one. Uh, maybe wild kiwis. They’re probably 
not very ripe, though. Take a bite, man. [Music] The walk is simply breathtaking. It’s everything 
you imagine the Japanese countryside would be, and the experience is enhanced even further with the 
historical significance of this route. Although only 8 km, we stopped countless times to take in 
the sights and to take breaks as the temperatures were in the mid-30s. Steven was looking like 
he had just gone for a swim fully clothed. Alright, we’re freaking starving, so we’re going 
to get some soba and mochi. [Music] All right, we got our magomeuku 
specialty, gohei mochi. Ooh. [Music] Basically just like rice 
clumped together. That’s what mochi is, bro. But actually, you can see the 
grains of rice in this one. Yeah, it’s not quite mochi-like. It’s not mochi mochi, 
but it’s still good. [Music] We’re in Gifu. Finally, the adventure ends in the 43rd post town, 
Magome. And I think I can speak for both Steven and I when I say it quickly became our favorite 
out of all the post towns. Although we saw a lot of people on the trail and many in Magome as well, 
it was pretty much empty by 5:00 p.m. [Music] There you have it, guys. Thank you so much for 
watching. I hope you learned or saw something new that you haven’t yet seen from all the other 
photos and videos on the Nakasendo out there. And a special thank you to my Patreon subscribers, 
it’s a huge help in continuing my journey. And if you’ve been following along, you know that I 
had a bit of visa issues and I had to go back to North America for over a month, but I’m finally 
back in Japan and I can’t wait to get back on the road with this thing and see the parts of the 
country I haven’t yet seen. And it’s now fall, my favorite season in Japan. So with 
that, I’ll catch you next adventure.

Join me as I explore the Nakasendo, Japan’s historic Edo-period route connecting Kyoto and Tokyo. While towns like Magome-juku, Tsumago-juku, and Narai-juku are famous, many of the surrounding post towns remain hidden, relatively untouched, and rarely visited by tourists.

In this video, I take you off the beaten path around the Nakasendo trail to discover secret spots most travelers miss, all while living the van life in Japan. Expect quiet streets, beautiful nature, local culture, and the raw beauty of the Japanese countryside away from the crowds.

Whether you’re planning to hike the Nakasendo, travel Japan by van, or just love finding places off the tourist trail, this adventure shows you a side of Japan you probably haven’t seen before.

Hayato’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camera.hayato
Hayato’s Camper Van Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campingcar.hayato
Stephen’s Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@StephenTench
Stephen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevetench

🫶 Subscribe to my Patreon to support my journey! My Ultimate Van Life Japan Map is also available for sale here.
https://www.patreon.com/RyanBednar

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🎬Chapters:
0:00-0:36 Intro
0:37-3:15 Niekawa-juku
3:16-4:59 Abandoned Village
5:00-7:16 Kiso-Hiarasawa
7:17-9:34 Narai-juku
9:35-11:54 Tori Pass
11:55-14:18 Fukushima-juku
14:19-17:35 Atera Valley
17:36-19:58 Nezame no toko
19:59-22:54 Free campground
22:55-28:01 Tsumago-Magome Walk
28:02-28:43 Outro

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#nakasendo
#vanlifejapan
#vanlife
#japanvlog
#lifeinjapan
#livinginjapan
#cinematicvlog
#japantravelvlog
#travelvlog

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