The walk
Magome to Tsumago is about eight kilometres and takes two to three hours, climbing to the Magome pass at around 800 metres and then descending. It is well signposted in English and needs no navigation beyond following the markers.
Walking north from Magome means more climbing; south from Tsumago is gentler. Either way the surface alternates between stone-paved original sections, forest track and quiet lane.
The two towns
Tsumago was the first place in Japan to mount a serious historic preservation campaign, in the late 1960s, and residents agreed not to sell, rent or destroy the buildings. Power lines are buried and vending machines hidden. Early morning and evening, after the day visitors leave, it is genuinely extraordinary.
Magome is steeper, more commercial, and has better views out over the valley. Both have honesty-box tea houses along the trail between them, and both have working minshuku where you can stay the night.
Practicalities
- Nagiso station serves Tsumago; Nakatsugawa serves Magome. Both are on the JR Chuo line, with buses from the station to the town.
- A daily luggage forwarding service runs between the two tourist offices in season — drop your bag in the morning, collect it that afternoon.
- Ring the bear bells mounted along the trail. Sightings are rare but the bells are there for a reason.
- Best in late May to June and October to November. Winter is walkable but icy on the paved sections.
If you do one thing in Japan that is about the past rather than about looking at it, do this.