Word: nakasendo
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Walking the ancient Nakasendo highway from Kyoto to Tokyo is a trip into a nation's past. As the reproduction notices suggest, travel along the mountain route was highly regulated and checkpoints dotted the road. Only feudal lords and their aristocratic assistants, the samurai, could use it. Women were forbidden to journey independently, and travelers who looked even slightly androgynous had to unbutton sometimes for inspection. Travelers were also required to stamp on a Christian cross. Hesitation meant instant decapitation...
...Culturally sensitized, our group sets off on our trek from Mitake in the Kiso River Valley, two hours' drive east of Kyoto. The advent of railways made backwaters of many towns along the old Nakasendo path and, in a happy turn for visitors, isolated the ancient wooden settlements from modern encroachment. Mitake's suburbanites may have forgotten the road, but the signs are still there. Lurid azaleas and miniature topiary pines trace its zigzag route past new housefronts and tiny gardens. (The kinks and bends were originally designed to slow down cavalry attacks.) By the roadside are vegetable plots...
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