Ruta del Nakasendo

The Nakasendo route is one of the oldest 5 roads that formerly united Japan by several points. It connected Edo with Kyoto. This road was the original route for samurai and merchants who used to travel from city to city. At one point, some posters show the path to Kyoto, many hundreds of kilometres away. Obviously, not everything was preserved, but from the village of Magome, through the Kiso Valley, you can hike. The initial part of the way from Magome is absolutely stunning because it's full of mountains and rice fields, which when I was there, they were completely green and growing. Leaving Magome, and after climbing a small hill, there is a beautiful, small, rustic Shinto temple.