Narai

Nari also known as Narai-juku (juku means post town) is a traditional town on the Nakasendo trail, the old trading route between Kyoto to Edo (now Tokyo). Narai was the half way point and the wealthiest of the post towns. It boasts the longest stretch of houses and ryokan along the 1km main street which has earned it the name of Narai of a Thousand Houses.

Walking down the main street of this town will transport you back to the era of Samurai and traders. Today in these wooden two story houses you will find noodle shops, lacqureware, local sake, coffee shops and souvenir shops and many of them are still traditional inns (ryokan or minshuku). Give yourself a few hours to leisurely explore the town. Note that many shops close by 5pm so make sure you arrive with enough time to explore. Follow this link for a map of the town.

Narai is the perfect place to enjoy traditional home made noodles! Nagano area is known for soba. However, the day we arrived in Narai, it was wet and we couldn’t go past Inakaya Restaurant for handmade Udon and sake!

At the northern end of Narai (near the train station) a cedar forest path leads to Hachimangu shrine with 200 Jizos or buddhist statues.

The Taihoji Temple has a statue that resembles the Virgin Mary in the form of a Jizo cradling a child. She has no head and was likely decapitated by Tokugawa authorities when Christianity was outlawed in Japan in 1614. It speaks of the tragic history of the hidden Christians of Japan.

When you have finished exploring Narai, we would highly recommend stopping into Matsuyasabo coffee shop for their coffee set, brewed by the owner and served in an elegant tea cup. We had cheesecake and the matcha sponge with red bean.

Over the other side of the train tracks (cross at the tunnel under the tracks) is the Kiso wooden bridge. This is one of the longest wooden bridges in Japan and looks spectacular at night as well.

To enjoy the full experience of this town, it is well worth staying the night in a traditional minshuku (family run traditional inn), and feel like you are living in the pages of history. Enjoy a keiseki meal prepared by your hosts, soak in the onsen (hot spring) and sleep on tatami mats.

We stayed in Minshuku Shimada, run by a lovely older couple that were amazing hosts and very keen to hear about our travels and answer our questions about Narai.

After checking in we booked our time slots for the Onsen. One time slot for each room (we had three rooms). Then we were called for dinner and were served a traditional kaiseki meal by our hosts. It focused on local ingredients and delicacies including horse sashimi.

Then we settled into our room looking over the main street…

…and felt like we had been transported back in time as the town went to sleep.

What to do in Narai

Narai can be explored in a day and there are a number of tour groups that offer day trips. While you are here, take the time to also visit the next town of Kiso-hirasawa a quaint artisan lacquerware town.

Although Narai an be visited in a day, to stay overnight in this beautifully preserved town, in traditional accommodation where travelers have stayed for hundreds of years is a unique experience.

We caught the local train from Matsumoto to Kiso-hirasawa, explored the town and then caught the shuttle bus to Narai, and explored the town before finding our Ryokan for the night. We only took day packs with us so that we didn’t have to take large luggage. Our main luggage we forwarded to our accommodation for the night after. After spending the night at Narai we then travelled to Tsumago to walk the Nakasendo trail to Magome and then on to Nagoya and Osaka for the next part of our trip.

How to get here

Travel to Narai on the Chūō Main line from Matsumoto or Nagoya. Express trains will not stop at Narai, so changing for a local train is required.

Be aware that in adverse weather this train may be cancelled. It had been raining heavily and shut down the night we stayed in Narai, fortunately it was running again the following morning when we left.

There is a very cute green and yellow tourist bus that travels between Kiso-Hirasawa and Narai throughout the day. The bus runs more frequently than the local trains and makes it a great way to see both Kiso-Hirasawa and Narai on the same day.

Narai and Kiso-hirasawa are part of the Nakasendo trail, the old trading route and both towns should be included if you are keen to explore this historic route. Other popular towns to visit on the Nakasendo trail include Tsumago and Magome.

More Information

Matsumoto

Kiso-Hirasawa

Nakasendo trail

Japan Guide – Narai

Go Nagano tourism site