Japan Heritage story
The Kiso Road: life in the mountains on the Nakasendo
木曽路はすべて山の中
The Kiso valley in Nagano is all mountains and forest. When logging nearly emptied it in the 1600s, cutting trees became a capital crime, and villagers turned to lacquer, combs, horses and inns along the Nakasendo road.
Key facts
- Theme
- Forests and timber, Textiles and dyes, Food and sake
- Era
- Yayoi, Kofun, Nara, Edo
- Region
- Chubu, Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- 木曽路はすべて山の中
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- ～山を守り 山に生きる～
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 長野県（南木曽町，大桑村，上松町，木曽町，木祖村，王滝村，塩尻市 ）
The story
Kiso hinoki cypress has a fine, tight grain and has been used for shrines and temples for centuries; for about 330 years it has also gone into the rebuilding of Ise Jingu every 20 years. After the wars ended, castle and city building in the early 1600s stripped the valley. The Owari domain then banned cutting five types of tree, with the saying "one tree, one head; one branch, one arm".
With the forest closed, locals were given split wood to make bentwood boxes, lacquerware and Oroku combs, and bred sturdy Kiso horses. They sold it all along the Nakasendo, whose 11 Kiso post towns were busy with travellers and pilgrims to Mt Ontake.
What to see
- Narai-juku: a post town about 1 km long, once called "Narai of a thousand houses", famous for lacquer and wooden crafts.Google Maps 奈良井宿 (opens in a new tab)
- Kiso-Hirasawa: the lacquerware town next to Narai.Google Maps 木曽平沢 (opens in a new tab)
- Tsumago-juku: the smallest of the 11 post towns, which still had 31 inns in the Edo period.Google Maps 妻籠宿 (opens in a new tab)
- Nezame-no-toko: a rocky gorge on the Kiso River whose scenery drew haiku poets and ukiyo-e artists.Google Maps 寝覚の床 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your walk with the Nagano prefecture guide, and see more nature.
Good to know
- Buy lacquerware or an Oroku comb in Narai or Kiso-Hirasawa, made where they have always been made.
- Walking a stretch of the Nakasendo between two post towns is the best way to feel the valley.
- Look for Kiso horses: small and calm, they were bred for these steep paths.
Questions travellers ask
Why is Kiso cypress special?
It has a dense, fine grain and has long been used for shrines and temples, including Ise Jingu's rebuilding every 20 years.
What is the Kiso Road?
The stretch of the Nakasendo, one of the five great Edo roads, that runs through the Kiso valley with 11 post towns.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Chikuma, city of the moon: the moon in every rice terrace
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Kawachinagano: a town where the Middle Ages live on
- Michinoku gold: where Japan's gold story began
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.