Continue to the Kiso Valley

September 21

On Monday, after a sumptuous breakfast at Mount Fuji, we continued our journey in our rental car to the tranquil Kiso Valley in the Japanese Alps.

On our way to our hotel, we stopped in Narai-juku. This is one of several old post towns that flourished, especially during the Edo period (17th–19th centuries). At that time, the route between Kyoto and Edo, present-day Tokyo, was an important connecting road.

Three of these towns, which have largely retained their Edo-period appearance, can still be found in the Kiso Valley today.

When we arrived, it was already quite crowded. As we learned from the rental car agent, it was "Silver Week" in Japan. This occurs when the holidays in September – Elderly Day and the Autumn Equinox – fall at a particularly opportune time, resulting in five consecutive days off work.

Despite the crowds, it was lovely to stroll through the historic town. Narai-Juku is especially known for its wooden products, so naturally, the first thing we did was equip ourselves with some stylish new chopsticks.

After that, we continued on to our hotel in Fukushima-Juku.

And here, as so often happens:

Eat, onsen, sleep!