Ochiai-juku Nakasendo

A guide to walk through some of the most well preserved post towns along the Nakasendo. The Nakasendo is the former highway that connected Kyoto to Tokyo during the Edo period (1603-1868). At this time the Feudal lords were forced to do a multi-week commute between the two cities. The ruling family forced the lords to spend every other year in Tokyo with their entire household. This was a nightmare of a yearly commute! The Nakasendo is a 540km route with 69 post towns along the route. Commuting lords and samurai would stop at the post towns to rest and eat during their long journey. Currently, many of the post towns have been modernized with the introduction of the railway line. A lot of the original paths used by the lords and samurai have been converted into roads.