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Narai, Shiojiri city,
Nagano prefecture
 
Section Contents
The East End of the Town
Main Street of Narai
Formation of the Town
Walk from Narai Station


 
 
Landscape  
  Walking along the street, watch the configuration of Narai town, which is filled with the traditional and calm beauties, surrounded by mountains, as a whole. Let's look at the town on the riverside, in the context of the natural and historical environment.

▲A Picture-Map of Narai Town with instructions

  Narai-juku stands in 5 miles from Yabuhara-juku, also from Niekawa-juku. In the old daysNarai was the terminal stage town, entrepôt. Then it was a key town where travellers from Niekawa or Shiojiri would get ready for walking over the difficult ridge.

◆The East End of the Town◆

  Leaving Shiojiri and going up along Nakasendo, then passing by Niekawa and Hirasawa, we will arrive at Narai town. It is around 25 miles journey along the old Kaido-road.
  The road is running through the bottom-line of the ravine. The travellers in the old days kept walking on the path surrounded by thick forest on the foot of mountains before reaching Narai town.

  It is said that there were the row of Japanese ceder-trees, which had been cared by people since older days, on both path-sides. The travellers must have walked along the narrow way, as though stepping on the roots of trees.
  On the moutain-path people might pass against each other, rubbing their sleaves against each other.

  Before entering Narai's town-street, at the east end of the town we find the old Shrine of Hachiman on the slope half way down the mountain reaching in front of the Narai station.
  The shrine has the stone steps from the road. Turning east half way of the steps, we find the 200 stone Jizo-statues.
  
  Near the statues stands old ceder trees under which a narrow path is running up the slope and vanishing into the grass. The path is the ruin of the old Nakasendo, i.e. Kisoji of the old days.
  The row of the ceders remains the feature what the road used to be. It was the entrance of the Stage-Town.
  
  The travellers who got out of the deep forest would feel easy when they found the town-street ― under their eyes ―standing in the open perspective.

  Now we stand at the entrance of Nrai town, then we are going to walk along the street southwestward.

古道
The mountain-path of Kisoji in the old days has already been vanishing into the bush and the grass.
参道石段
Climbing up to the top of the stone steps, we will arrive at the shrine of Hachiman-gu.

Turning right (east) half way of the steps, we find a narrow way surrounded by old trees (look at the picture above ). It is the remain of old Kisoji. The travellers walked along the path under the trees.
二百地蔵
The 200 Jizo-statues behind the shrine
◆Main Street of Narai

  The row of Town-Houses along the street continues over 1,000 meters. It is excessively long as a town in Kiso-area.
  From the scale of the town we can understand the posistion and role Narai used to take in Kiso area. In Nakasendo it was one of the largest and most prosperous town where the population and commodities accumulated together.
  However, Torii Ridge is rushing just behind the street which is rising up so gently that we woudn't notice it. The rows of houses suddenly ends in front of the shrine of Shizume-jinja, from which a way getting over Torii Ridge-Pass to Yabuhara town starts.
  In the old days they said that Torii Ridge-Pass was the most difficult place in Kisokaido. Then at both ends of Narai town stand the shrines, for not only the people arriving at the town might thank the heaven for safety of their journey, but also the people starting from the town might pray safety.
  There are the Official Place of Notice-Board, Kosatsu-ba in Japanese, and the water in front of Shizume shrine. The board is the one restored what once used to be.
  Standing on the side of the shrine's stone-lantern, we find a fair landscape of the town-street with the background of the mountains surrounding the Kiso ravine.

中町の景観
The street gives us a lot of fun.
草花
On the both sides of the street many kinds of plants and flowers are standing side by side in each season.

The Official Plac of Notice-Board, Kosatsu-ba
社殿
The Praying Shrine-House : Usually we can't watch the Sanctuary-Shrine behind it.
神社からの眺め
The perspective from the terrace of Shizume Shrine
About Kisoji

A Chart of Nakasendo

  • A picture-map of whole Nakasendo from Edo to Kyo.
  • Shinano country and other main roads connected with Nakasendo.

A Picture-Map of Kisoji

  • A simple map of Kisoji's geography
  • Ways, rivers and stage towns

A Picture-Map of Narai Town

  • A picture-map of the rows of the town-houses
  • A guidance for sight-seeing of townscapes

Architecture of Town-House

  • Explanation about the design of the town-house in Narai
  • From the architecture of houses, learn the lif-style of the people.
 
 

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