Magome, Japan Summary

The most southerly of the Kisoji’s eleven juku is steeply raked MAGOME, 55km south of Narai. Standing 800m up in the hills above the Kiso valley, Magome means “horse basket”, because this was where travellers on the Nakasendo were forced to leave their nags before tackling the mountainous stretch of road ahead. Plaster and wooden buildings line either side of the stone-flagged path – many of the wooden roofs are still held down by stone. Despite appearances, most of the town’s buildings date from the twentieth century, the village having suffered a history of fires, the most recent being in 1915, when 42 houses burnt to the ground.