The museum is at Narai post-town in Nagano prefecture of central Japan. It was on Nakasendou highway which linked Edo (old name of Tokyo) and Kyoto. The town has not suffered from big fire since late 19th century, so old building remains; I can say residents preserve old building and live there.
Many travelers stayed at Narai, because they had to walk through the difficult pass in order to go south. Many travelers including foreigners visit Narai even until now because of the old buildings and its atmosphere. However, it is a calm town if you visit on a weekday.
I walked from Narai, passed the peak (Torii Pass) and went to the next post-town (Yabuhara).
奈良井宿は、松本平から中山道を南に向かい木曽路に入ると、二つ目にある宿場町です。江戸末期から大火にあわず、古い街並みが残っています。また、住民のみなさんによって、家々が保存されています。かつては、鳥居峠を前にした宿泊者が多い宿場町でしたが、今では外国人も訪れる人気観光地です。でも、平日に訪れると静かな町です。
奈良井宿から、分水嶺（最後は信濃川となって日本海に流れる奈良井川と太平洋に流れる木曽川）になっている鳥居峠を越えて、次の藪原宿まで歩きました。
Inns stands beside the old highway.
旅館や民宿が今も建ち並んでいます。
There are also souvenir shops. The shop on the left is a lacquerware shop, which is a specialty of the area.
もちろん、お土産屋さんも。左は名産の漆器を売る店です。
There are several watering-places by the road. Plastic bottles were cooled.
所々に、水場があります。ペットボトルが冷やされていました。
Three story buildings have been constructed since the mid-20th century.
戦後になると、三階建ても建てられました。といっても古風ですが。
The road becomes wider,
道が広くなって、
Kami-toiya museum、上問屋史料館
I reached the museum. It is located at the heart of the post-town, because it was a logistic center (toiya). The post-towns in Kiso area prepared 25 horses and 25 people as carrier. Teduka family was in charge of the role. This is the first time for me to go inside a toiya.
上問屋史料館に到着。江戸時代は、宿場の物流を担う問屋でした。木曽11宿は、人足25人と伝馬25疋を準備していたとのことです。手塚家がその任を担っていました。「て津可」の看板がかかっています。問屋に入るのは初めてです。
There is a long hallway from the entrance. Old documents and so on are displayed at both sides.
玄関を上がると、奥に向かってドーンと廊下が伸びていて、古文書などが展示されています。
The room at the innermost is classy, and on the left side,
造作が良い奥の座敷の左側には、
There is a room in which Meiji emperor had a lunch in 1880. It means the building was the most excellent in the post-town. He ate iwana (river fish) and so on.
明治天皇が、明治13年6月26日に昼食をとられた行在所が、そのまま残されています。岩魚などを召し上がったそうです。本陣の役を果たせたのですね。
I returned to the road side.
上段の間を背にして、街道側へと戻ります。
The courtyard on the left is also classy. A sake (alcoho1) bottle which was made near Ise Shrine was exhibited; it probably became the trigger to chat about their trip to Ise (Ise was the most popular tourist destination back then.
中庭の造りもいいですね。伊勢のあこぎ焼の徳利（右上）なども展示されていました。伊勢参りで手に入れたのでしょうか。思い出話のきっかけになりますね。
The room at the roadside is an office. Officials arranged for carrier or horse to carry luggage.
街道に面した部屋が、会所で、宿役人が助郷も含めて人馬手配を行いました。
I went up to the second floor and looked down the old highway through the lattice window.
二階へ上がり、格子窓から街道を見下ろします。
I went down the staircase in behind, and
写真奥の階段を降りてみると、
The staircase consists of drawers. I’ve seen such a staircase in many places, however, it was the first time to use it. It is sturdy!
なんと箱階段でした。展示品はあちこちで見ますが、使ったのは初めてです。丈夫なものなのですね。
I passed the section that is curved on purpose as a defensive measure; it is called “kagi(key)-no-te”. It is generally set at the end of the town.
防衛目的で作られた鍵の手を過ぎると、宿場もあと少し。
I arrived at the southern end of the town.
宿場の南端です。
There is Shizume shrine at the edge of the town; it is surrounded by the calm forest. The annual festival is solemn but is exciting at the end.
Reference: Narakawa, Historical and Folkloric Museum and the village festival、楢川歴史民俗資料館と鎮守の祭り
鎮守の鎮（しずめ）神社は、静かな森に囲まれています。でも、例大祭はおごそか、かつ、エキサイティングです。
The view of Narai post-town from the shrine is also nice. Narakawa Museum is next to the shrine.
神社から見た奈良井宿も素敵です。神社の隣は、楢川歴史民俗資料館。
The wooden bridge “Narai ohashi (large bridge) is a tourist spot. There are no bridge girders.
橋桁がない総檜造りの奈良井大橋も名所です。
Torii pass、鳥居峠
Torii pass is south of Narai. There is a bear bell beside the stone steps. We inform bear of our visiting. I wondered whether a procession of a daimyo lord could go through this narrow road or not.
宿場を過ぎると鳥居峠への上り坂になります。石畳の横には、熊除けの鈴が。この道を大名行列が通ったのでしょうか。
There was a milestone near here. However, the exact location is unclear.
この辺りに、一里塚があったそうです。今は正確な場所はわかりません。
There is a rest space near the peak. There was a tea house in the Edo period (1603～1868). It is an impressive place for me; I could imagine travelers took a break and drank water here in the old days.
峠に近い、立場茶屋の跡は休憩所になっています。いにしえからの旅人が一息ついて水を飲んだと思うと、感慨深いですね。
The torii gate is the origin of the name of the pass. In the 15th century, s war lord (Kiso Yoshimoto) prayed a deity in Mt. Ontake for his victory and he won. So, he donated the gate to the deity (the one above is a new one).
Although I couldn’t see Mt. Ontake because of cloud, I had a lunch here. I met a Spanish couple after the lunch. I met four groups on the day which were all western people!
鳥居峠の名の由来になった御嶽遙拝所の鳥居。戦国武将の木曽義元が、信濃の守護大名との合戦を前に戦勝を祈願し、願いかなって鳥居を立てたそうです。写真の鳥居は、新しいものです。
この日は御嶽山が雲に隠れていましたが、この場所でお弁当を食べました。スペイン人のカップルと遭遇、平日のこの日にあった４組のハイカーはすべて欧米人で、日本人はいませんでした。
The colored photo above was taken at the late 19th century. There are no trees near the gate, so they could see Mt. Ontake well. And the old highway (Nakasendou) was wide and was well maintained.
贄川関所（Niekawa ex-checkpoint、贄川関所）に展示されている鳥居峠の着色古写真（江戸末期から明治初期）を見ると、鳥居の周辺に木はなく、御嶽山の眺望が良かったと思います。そして、中山道の道幅は広く、よく整備された道でした。
After downing a bit, we see a well. The legend says that a samurai warrior used the water to write a paper for praying for victory which was ordered by his boss “Kiso Yoshinaka” (1154-1184). It’s small than I expected.
遙拝所の少し下には、義仲の硯水があります。木曽義仲が兵を挙げたとき、御嶽山に納めた戦勝祈願の願書を認めさせた時の硯の水といわれています。意外と小さいですね。
Then, we can see Yabuhara post-town, which is the next one of Narai.
藪原宿が見えてきました。
The old picture shoes us the width of the highway was around 4m and was well maintained. So, it was easier to walk than now. Now I'm sure that a daimyo lord procession, which included palanquins and horses, could go on the road.
こちらも贄川関所に展示されている古写真です。道幅は４ｍぐらいあり歩きやすく整備されています。大名行列も通れたわけですね。
A big fire occurred in Yabuhara in the Meiji period (1868-1912), so many old buildings disappeared.
藪原宿では明治期に大火があり、町は新しいです。
Reference site、参考ページ：https://www.naraijuku.com/shop/post-60/
(in Japanese and English)
Torii Pass、鳥居峠：https://tokimeguri.jp/guide/toritoge/
(in Japanese and English)
Visited in July, 2023
Previous post (museum and festival in the
same town): Narakawa,
Historical and Folkloric Museum and the village festival、楢川歴史民俗資料館と鎮守の祭り
Next post (museum in Yabuhara): Kiso village local museum、木祖村郷土館
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