Guide, Giorgio, in front of a Nakasendo Way map.
Walking the Walk
Day One
Started in Kyoto
Ready, get set. We had a tour briefing and dinner with
Giorgio. We enjoyed learning about Japanese customs and
etiquette and how to greet and thank our hosts. By the end of
the trip, we had mastered “gochisosama deshita” (thank you
for the meal).
Day Two
Hikone, Sekigahara (5 miles)
Our warm-up walk day. First, a train ride to the castle town
of Hikone, filming location for parts of the 1980 TV series,
“Shogun.” A second train took us to Sekigahara to tour the
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great battlefield that in 1600 ended centuries of civil wars
and ushered in the Shogunate period.
We overnighted in a traditional ryokan (inn), putting
etiquette lessons to the test. Upon entry, street shoes were
exchanged for Japanese sandals. Different sandals were worn
in the bathroom. After a day of touring we bathed, donned
our yukatas (robes) and sat cross-legged on the floor around
a kee (low table). Dinner was served donabe style with food
prepared in a clay pot over an open fire.
Day Three
Sekigahara, Mitake, Hosokute (7.4 miles)
Walking through rice paddies and rolling wooded hillsides,
we arrived in the tiny, centuries-old post town of Hosokute.
april/may 2019
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