2 October 2025 Imagine sitting down in a serene tatami room, shoes politely abandoned at the door. You sit on a pillow on the floor. Your feet fall into a well under the low table. Before you is a three foot eating area covered with at least a plethora of Read more
2 October 2025
Takayama used to be the castle town which General Nagachika Kanamori built on behalf of his master at the end of the Sengoku era when Hideyosi Toyotomi ruled Japan. In 1692, however, Hida district came under the direct control of the Tokugawa government, and almost all samurai left Takayama. So l’m told.
1 October 2025
A short drive takes us southerly over the 2,628-foot Magome Pass. The pass is the highest elevation along the Nakasendō Way. Surrounding mountains and the cedar and bamboo forests are outstanding. It is difficult to consider these undulating hills as mountains when I regularly drive over passes at 4,000’. However, unlike the more northern peaks in Japan that can receive up to 50 feet of snow, the Tsumago-Magome area is more temperate and snowfall is not as heavy or burdensome.
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