KAZUKIN likes Nagano.
There are mountains, the air is clean, and the food is good. And somehow the slow flow of time is nice too.
This time I visited the South Shinshu area of Nagano Prefecture.
Going around Achi Village, Iida and so on, I enjoyed scenery surrounded by mountains and air that's somehow cool even in summer.
And having come as far as South Shinshu, there's a favorite place I want to stretch my trip to.
Magome-juku.
But let me write something important here.
Magome-juku isn't in Nagano Prefecture. It's in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture.
After traveling South Shinshu and driving through the mountains straight to Magome-juku, it feels like the Nagano trip just keeps going.
So KAZUKIN almost introduced it as
“Magome-juku in Nagano is great, right.”
Close call.
I did cross the prefectural border properly.
The atmosphere of a post town on a slope
When you think Magome-juku, it's this slope.
Old-style buildings line both sides of a stone-paved road, and just walking while looking at the souvenir shops and eateries is fun.
Magome-juku is a place that once flourished as a post town on the Nakasendo road.
Walking the slope looking at old buildings, I imagine travelers of the time walked here too...
The KAZUKIN of today came by car.
Even so, getting here over mountains is a fair amount of effort.
And people in the Edo period walked through here, which is astonishing.
No Google Maps. No air-conditioned car. And of course no sneakers.
KAZUKIN would likely turn back at the first pass.
Travelers of old were too strong.
From South Shinshu to Magome-juku. The air here is good
The area from South Shinshu to Magome-juku that I traveled this time has mountains very close.
Driving through scenery surrounded by mountains, even in midsummer the air feels different from the Kanto region.
Especially mornings and evenings can be cool, and KAZUKIN likes this feeling.
The moment I stepped out of the car, “Ah, it's cool.”
Before seeing the sights, I first feel the destination through the air.
Yes, it's a trip you feel with your skin.
Coming from Kanto in midsummer, this cool air alone makes me think “I've come.”
And the moment I got home, reality returned.
Hot.
Couldn't I bottle up South Shinshu's air in a plastic bottle and take it home?
Magome-juku has great scenery too
Magome-juku's slope itself has charm, but if you look a bit outward, the mountain views are wonderful too.
The post town continues along the mountain slope, and beyond it, ridges overlap in layers.
An old-style townscape. Stone paving. Wooden buildings. And mountain scenery.
There are no flashy attractions. But just walking is fun.
For KAZUKIN, a place like this is good.
But since it's a slope, if you walk absorbed in the scenery, your legs definitely feel it.
You can feel charm and lack of exercise at the same time.
Looking at souvenir shops is fun too
And in Magome-juku, wandering while peeking into souvenir shops is also one of the pleasures.
Strolling the slope looking at woodcraft, folk crafts and local foods.
“Just looking today.”
Thinking that, I go into a shop.
And when I come out, somehow I'm holding something.
That's what tourist spots are like.
Souvenirs are fun, right?
And gohei-mochi
Once I've come to Magome-juku, what I want to eat after all is gohei-mochi.
Gohei-mochi comes in a flat “waraji (straw sandal) type” and a small round “dango type” among others, and shape and sauce seem to differ by region.
What first comes to KAZUKIN's mind at the word “gohei-mochi” is, after all, the waraji type.
Rice flattened, brushed with sauce and grilled until fragrant. That look is great.
And eaten while walking through a post town, it's even better.
With things like this, it's not just taste.
Eating it in that place is itself delicious.
Even if I ate the same thing at home, I probably wouldn't get this excited.
People apparently eat the scenery together with the food.
Gohei-mochi is great, right?
Magome-juku is great, right?
Enjoy the mountains of South Shinshu and cross the border straight to Magome-juku.
Walk the slope. See old buildings. Peek into souvenir shops. Gaze at the mountains. Eat gohei-mochi.
It's not doing anything flashy.
But that's what's good.
Imagining travelers of old walking this road, KAZUKIN strolls leisurely again today.
And once more at the end.
Though it's very near South Shinshu, Magome-juku is in Gifu Prefecture.
I almost sent it out into the world as a Nagano article.
All I can do is laugh.
Of course, on the way home, like a modern person, I go back in an air-conditioned car.
Magome-juku is great, right?
KAZUKIN Rating
- 🪨 Stone-paved slope — ★★★★★ (charming, but honestly tough on the legs)
- 🌬️ Coolness of the air — ★★★★★ (felt the cool that continues from South Shinshu)
- 🗾 Grasp of prefectural borders — ★☆☆☆☆ (walked Gifu thinking it was Nagano)
- 🍡 Impact of gohei-mochi — ★★★★★ (delicious precisely because eaten on the spot)
- 🛍️ Resistance to souvenir temptation — ★☆☆☆☆ (meant to just look, always leave holding something)