Accommodation

During our walk we'll be staying in a combination of business hotels, ryokan (traditional Japanese inns), and minshuku (Japanese-style guest houses). This ties in nicely with one of the themes of the Kisokaido Project: the old versus the new (Kyoto versus Tokyo, the old highways versus the new motorways, me (46) versus Erik (36), etc.).

Japanese business hotels can be pretty impersonal and the rooms are usually quite small, but they're cheap, clean and convenient. They often have coin laundries, and sometimes even offer free breakfast. You can also have a shower in the morning, something that's not always possible at Japanese-style accommodation.

In most cases, ryokan will be over our budget of 10,000 yen a day, but we may find one or two cheap ones along the way. Ryokan are all about tradition, service and atmosphere. In many cases the meals are a real highlight, usually consisting of multiple dishes including local delicacies, all served in your own room with sake and/or beer. Bathing is done in the traditional Japanese style in a communal bathtub. It's definitely an evening affair, and there's rarely the opportunity to take a morning shower.

Minshuku are similar to ryokan in many respects, but are generally cheaper, almost always family-run, and lack the attentive service which is a hallmark of most ryokan.

In some places our options will be limited. Two towns where we'll definitely be staying in ryokan or minshuku are Magome and Hosokute. Because it was bypassed by the main railway line, Magome fell into relative obscurity for a time, but in recent years it's been restored and is now a popular tourist destination. I visited Magome in 2003 when I walked a short section of the Nakasendo on my own, and although it does attract tourists by the busload, I found it a charming town in a stunningly beautiful location. There are no business hotels in Magome as far as I know, only a handful of ryokan and minshuku.

Like Magome, Hosokute is quite a way off the beaten track, but unlike Magome it hasn't been restored or turned into a tourist attraction. Interestingly, when the Nakasendo was first opened, the post town of Hosokute didn't exist. It was added later because the 16km-long mountain path between Okute and Mitake was considered too long for a single leg.

Today Hosokute is a sleepy little town full of elderly people (all the young ones have gone off to the city to find work apparently), with just a couple of old buildings remaining. One of these is an inn called Daikokuya. The inn has been in business since the Edo period, although the current building is a relative newcomer, having been built in the 1850s after a fire destroyed the old premises. It's a delightful old building with lots of wooden pillars, mud walls, and an earth floor in the entrance hall. And it's the only accommodation in town.

Distance walked today: 3km
Total distance walked since blog began: 70.2km