Nakaendo Walk(18) Narai(34/69)-Miyanokoshi(36/69): October 28, 2016

The autumn deepens. The trees started to change the colors in Kiso areas, Nagano Prefecture. I started today's walk from Narai, the 34th shukuba station from Tokyo's Nihonbashi, or the 2^nd station of the 11 stations in Kiso.

Narai preserves traditional buildings as I wrote in my precious article posted on September 19. Today was a nice day and I could enjoy the autumn colors of the mountains around the town.

There is a mountain of Torii Pass at the south of Narai. The mountain is the watershed of two riverine systems. One is Narai River, which flows northward and merges into Chikuma River, changes its name to Shinano River and flows into the Sea of Japan. Another is Kiso River, which flows southward and goes into the Pacific Ocean.

The pass is about 1200 meters high, about 260 meters higher than Narai. The path goes through the woods. Some parts of the path were cobbled with stones.

Many battles took place in the area hundreds ago. I passed a valley named “the valley of the dead”, where about 500 soldiers of the Takade feudal lord family were killed. It was during the battle Takeda Katsuyori and Kiso Yoshimasa in 1582.

I also found a sign to call for attention for the bears here.

There is a shrine around the top of the pass. It was built to pray for Mt. Ontake.

I met many foreign tourists including British and Australians in the mountain path. They said to be enjoying the beauty of the nature.

I walked down the pass to Yabuhara, the 35^th station. It is just the center of 69 stations. I found no sign of such information. I remember that I saw many “center of Tokaido” signs in Fukuroi, the 27^th of 53 Tokaido shukuba stations.

Instead, I found a soba noodle restaurant with a English menu displayed outside of the house. They are trying to attract foreign tourists.

Yabuhara used to produce traditional wood combs. Some shops still sell them.

Yabuhara station is in Kiso Village with about 3000 people. The Village kept independence when many other towns and villages merged in the early 2000s. Today, the village identifies itself as “the village of the water source of Kiso River”

I moved about a kilometer and had met Kiso River for the first time.　Ｔｈｅ upper stream was beautiful.

Ｉ　walked along the river. The autumn color was beautiful.

A construction work was under way to prevent landslide.

There are vegetable fields developed in the narrow land between the mountains. The scene was beautiful.

I moved into Miyanokoshi, the 36^th station. It is In Kiso Town (not Kiso Village).

Miyanokoshi is famous as a place where Kiso Yoshinaka, a hero in the 12^th century, was raised. The statues of Kiso Yoshinaka and his partner Tomoe Gozen were built in the memorial place.

There is a small natural dam in Kiso River near Miyanokoshi. There is a legend related to Tomoe Gozen here. The autumn color was beautiful.