Tsumago, Magome and Matsumoto

Early morning in Tsumago.
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After an early Japanese breakfast (egg, green salad, miso soup, more pickles and local vegetables/greens) I started off on the Nakasendo hike.  Since the tourists hadn't yet arrived , I was able to take some pictures of the old-style buildings of Tsumago.

Back in the 1960's, Tsumago and Magome faced a financial crisis when the new railroad bypassed these towns.  Both were restored to appear as they did in the late 1800's and they became significant tourist attractions.

The walk on the Nakasendo from Tsumago to Magome took about 2.5 hours and was fairly easy climb.  The section just before the peak at Magome Pass was tiring and I was damn glad to reach it.  I was going to celebrate with a cold drink but the store there was closed and the vending machines were broken.

Nakasendo road through the forests.
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The Nakasendo ran through forests, numerous graveyards and twin waterfalls.  The waterfalls were named Odaki and Medaki (man and woman) and are linked to the Miyamoto Musashi legend.

From Magome I caught a bus to the JR Nakatsugawa Station and returned to Matsumoto on the Limited Express Shinano.   I was very lucky with the weather.  During both hikes the weather was mostly clear.  As I left the Tsumago region, it started snowing.  When I had passed through Matsumoto the previous day onroute to Nagiso, it was raining but when I returned, it had cleared up.

The Odaki waterfall.
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Matsumoto is known for its castle, an original wood structure dating back to the 1590's.  As it turned out, Matsumoto Castle had just started its sakura celebration with a night-time sakura light-up which included live music (classical quartet and shamisen) performed from inside the castle.  I'm guessing the celebration had just started because there were not that many celebrants, certainly not the hanami crazed masses I expect to see later.