A guide to hiking Magome Pass & the Nakasendo Trail
History of the Nakasendo trail
The Nakasendo trail served as one of the main highways through central Japan during the Edo period, connecting the former capitals of Kyoto & Edo (now Tokyo). Today, it’s a 540km historic hiking trail path which passes through bamboo forest, takes in stunning waterfalls & offers views out over rice fields – all whilst showcasing Japan’s rich, historic culture. Here is a guide to hiking Magome Pass.
The Magome & Tsumago section is incredibly popular and would form part of the route I did between Nakatsugawa & Nagiso. Magome pass is a highlight, as are historic towns of Magome & Tsumago retain their Edo-esque atmosphere, whilst offering both food & accommodation options in tradition ryokan style inns.
A guide to hiking Magome Pass: How to get there
Nakatsugawa & Nagiso are both accesible from Nagoya via the Limited Express Shinano for Nagano. This service is covered by the Japan rail pass.
Trains depart from Nagoya central station every hour, between 7.00 and 16.00. Then 17.40, 18.40, and 19.40. Nakatsugawa is the third stop, taking approximately 48minutes & costs ¥3,270.
Nagiso is not a main stop on this train line, therefore direct trains are not as frequent. Trains departing from Nagano, bound for Nagoya & stopping at Nagiso are at 08.09, 15.55, 16.55 & 17.55. A return from Nagiso takes approximately 1hour 12minutes & costs ¥3,620.
You can buy tickets in advance here & collect them from Nagoya station. Note, the ticket office window at Nagiso only accepts cash & closes at 4pm.
Maps
The hardest part of this trail is finding the start & finish. There are signposts directly from the station, but they dont continue the clear markings like the Shimanami Kaido or other popular cycling trails.
You can find my route between Nakatsugawa station & Nagiso station here. It’s a total of 20.3km & has 840m elevation gain.
Gaijin exploring Japan
In my quest to explore Japan using public transport, I headed out of the city to explore the Nakasendo trail & see Magome pass.
I entered the Osaka marathon – well, I was forcibly coerced into it by my colleagues! Despite my protests, it meant I actually had to do some longer runs in preparation. Whilst I can run home from work, that’s only 17km. Running the same routes becomes repetitive and uninspiring – and certainly not where I’d choose to run at the weekend.
Despite actively protesting against running, its become a staple exercise for me in Japan. Living in a city centre makes cycling hard – I find that I spend half of the ride just battling to get out of the city, leaving little time for cycling on some good roads.
6 hours of exercise in the heat & humidity of Japanese summer just isn’t possible – not as a gaijin unaccustomed to such punishing conditions. Cycling has taken a back seat, in favour of shorter duration running.
Hiking Magome Pass
From Nakatsugawa, its a short distance but up some steep inclines to get onto the pass. I knew I was in the right place as the buildings got less and the scenery became more spectacular; majestic rivers and waterfalls.
I progressed further into the forest, following the obvious stone path through the bamboo trees. It amazed me that you could go from a busy town, to this, sheer unspoilt terrain. It felt untouched for centuries.
I dropped down into Magome-juku. It was here where I understood the popularity of the trail. Whilst some areas feel a far cry from the modern world, there are areas which are accessible by car. Unfortunately, this attracts more people. What should’ve been a beautiful market street, was – much like a lot of popular attraction sin Japan – far too overcrowded.
I slowly climbed in elevation, beginning the Magome pass climb, with fabulous view over rice terraces before heading into Magome-juku. Magome pass tops out at 801m. Its not a hard climb – or at least my legs weren’t telling me it was a hard climb. Maybe I was still full of excitement. Or maybe I hadn’t hit the ‘hard’ part of a long run.
From the summit of Magome pass – the descent is a really nice offroad section. the only major obstacle is other people – unsuspecting tourists not expecting a gaijin to come running down the trail behind them!
By the time I reached Tsumago-juku, my quads were grateful for a rest. I took my time wandering through this beautiful, quintessential Japanese village. Wooden buildings lined the street, with traditional arts & crafts on display – all handmade – a far cry from the technology obsessed world we live in these days.
A guide to hiking Magome Pass – Need to know
There are warning signs regarding bears. A lot of hikers will have bells on their backpack for this reason. Anecdotally, bears are rare in southern parts of Honshu. That doesn’t mean to say you shouldn’t take precautions, they’re just far less common than Hokkaido
In my naivety, I assumed resupply wouldn’t be possible. I therefore had my trail running backpack filled with 2l of water & snacks. This absolutely wasn’t necessary – both Magome & Tsumago have food options – and again, Nakatsugawa & Nagiso offer the typical convenience store options.
The terrain is forgiving – you can use road running shoes or normal trainers. The trail is either hard rock, or soft bamboo forest floor, with occasional tarmac sections to link it up. Hiking boots or even trail running shoes aren’t essential.
