Japan’s Tokaido Trail

Japan’s Tokaido Trail, like the more well-known Nakasendo Route, was a well-trodden path between Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto during the Edo period (1603-1868). Unlike the Nakasendo, which passed through mountainous areas and had 69 staging-post towns, it was a coastal route with 53 staging post towns. 

The Nakasedo Trail v the Tokaido Trail

Last year I walked a section of the Nakasendo Trail on a self-guided walk. I was delighted to see snow for the first time in many years and to experience Japan beyond the main cities.

This year I joined a small group on Walk Japan’s Tokaido Trail. While on both the Nakasendo and the Tokaido Trail, the route was planned and accommodation booked, having a guide made it a very different experience.

Our guide, Kristina Watanabe, pointed out places of interest and cultural significance, things that we walked past on the self-guided Nakasendo. Her knowledge gave me a deeper understanding of Japanese customs and culture and enriched my experience of Japan’s Tokaido Trail.

Starting the Tokaido Trail in Tokyo

After dinner on the first night of the tour, we stood on the Nihonbashi bridge, the first of the 53 post stations of the Tokaido Trail. Kristina showed us a picture of  the first of Utagawa Hiroshige’s series of woodblock prints of the Tokaido. Like the procession crossing the wooden bridge at the start of their journey along the Tokaido Trail, we too crossed the bridge, now a major thoroughfare filled with cars.

Unlike them, the following morning we boarded a shinkansen that took us along a line which closely follows the Old Tokaido Trail to the start of our walk.

The Tokaido Railway Line, opened in 1872, brought with it development, and although our walk meanders through several of the 53 post towns, many are now unrecognisable. Some original buildings remain. Others have been recreated, but with the help of Hiroshige’s woodblock prints and a little imagination, we can envisage life along Japan’s Tokaido Trail during the Edo period.

The Walk along Japan’s Tokaido Trail

Walk Japan’s Tokaido Trail begins with the toughest section of the trail. The path, formed by moss-covered ishidatami or ‘paving stones’, goes up. And up. Other days were less tedious, and we trudged through bamboo groves, strolled alongside winding roads and picked our way along a path crisscrossed with thick brown roots.  Orange groves clung to impossibly steep slopes, and the bright green leaves of tea plantations sparkled in the rain.  

Accommodation along the trail

Post towns provided travellers, who were prohibited from travelling at night, with accommodation and refreshment. In Edo times, lodgings varied according to status. Accordingly, we experienced a range of accommodation, from a simple inn with a shared traditional bathroom to upmarket ryokans with separate onsens for men and women.

We slept comfortably on futons set out on the tatami covered floor.

On our last night, our room featured a traditional cedar bathtub. From the tub I watched the roaring river rushing and gurgling over rocks on its journey to the sea.  

Traditional foods tasted on the Tokaido Trail

Many post stations were known for their local fare, and we get to enjoy some of these specialities.

Amazake

Sitting on low wooden stumps at tables outside the thatch roofed Amazake-chaya Tea House we sipped on a thick sweet non-alcoholic rice wine called amazake.

Yam Soup

At Mariko Post Town, we joined locals at Chojiya, a restaurant famous for its yam soup. The thick glutenous soup is supposed to provide energy for this afternoon’s walk. My dessert of mochi covered ice cream filled with yam bean paste was more to my taste.

Sakura Shrimp

Another specialty is Sakura (cherry blossom) shrimp. After a visit to the Hiroshige Art Museum to see how Hiroshige created his multi-layered woodblock prints, I bit into a crispy tempura ‘ball’ of the small pink shrimps, harvested from the nearby bay in Spring and Autumn.

At night wearing yukata, correctly wrapped with the left side over the right, we sat down to traditional Japanese meals, an array of little patterned dishes and bowls filled with tasty offerings. We cooked our own horse mackerel, and slivers of waygu beef that sizzled on a hot plate.

Learning about Japanese Customs and Culture

We learnt to say itadakimasu before eating, to express gratitude to those involved in the meal preparation, from the growers to the cooks and the people who will wash the dishes.  Kristina suggested the mnemonic “Eat a duck at mass,” would help to recall the phrase.

The stone statues with red knitted caps that we saw along the trail are Jizo. These Buddhist deities protect children and travellers along the trail. Kristina also told us about the legendary Tanuki. People often place statues of the large-bellied raccoon dog with a friendly smile outside restaurants or at front doors of homes. His oversized testicles symbolise good luck and good humour.

Mt Fuji

“Mt Fuji is tricky,” said Kristina. She can hide, even in clear weather. Nevertheless, we were excited to see her regularly on our travels. One morning I opened my windows, and there she was. Mt Fuji. Sparkling white snow spread down from her jagged crater against a pale grey sky.

Mt Fuji seemed to follow us. When travelling to or from the start of our walk, we glimpsed her through the rear window of our bus or shrouded in cloud to the right of our train.

Even when I couldn’t see her, I had the feeling that she was looking out for us.

Experiences along the Tokaido Trail

Recreating the Tokaido

Early on the trail, we came across a man wrapping his belongings in a reddish orange cloth decorated with white swirls. He wore traditional straw sandals and a conical straw hat. He looped the bundle over his head and set off up a steep incline. As I puffed up the same hill in my hiking boots, I wondered how his feet fared.  

Kikugawa

At the top of a steep hill that we tackled in the pouring rain, we came across a shop. With no passing trade, the grey-haired man with a toothy smile old man was about to close shop. Instead, he and his elderly companion, a little woman wearing a mask, served us warming green tea chattering away in Japanese. Offering me a shiny, sticky treacle like sweet, wound around a wooden stick, she warned that it would pull my teeth out.  

The Teahouse

Two old women didn’t bat an eyelid when our group of drenched walkers dripped into their busy teahouse. After a delicious bowl of Japanese pasta, they served coffee. The man in our group received his in a straight-sided dark green cup. A woman had hers delivered in a delicate fluted white cup with a pastel flower pattern.

Topiary on the Tokaido Trail

We met an 86-year-old man up a ladder, tree trimming tool in hand. Through a couple who happened to be walking their dog as we walked by, we learnt that he was shaping tree into a dragon. He’d already shaped other trees nearby, one of which was 200 years old.

Twice a year trims trees into shape. It takes him two days per tree.

Thoughts on Japan’s Tokaido Trail

Walking Japan’s Tokaido Trail is like taking a walk through culture and history. I returned home having fallen in love with Japan.

In a time of record numbers of visitors to Japan, we hardly saw a foreign face. Except at the amazake teahouse, we were the only foreigners in restaurants that were otherwise packed with locals.

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