Kisokaidô: Tsumago - Station 42

Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 stations of the Kisokaido: Station Tsumago (43rd print) (Tsumago)

© Trustees of the British Museum

We are between Tsumago and Magome the next station in the deepening twilight. Several travellers are on the road: Two travelers (1) arriving on the brow of the hill, a porter (2) carrying two panniers of cargo wrapped in red cloth, an elderly man (3) bending over his stick, a pilgrim (4) bearing a portable shrine on his back. The pilgrim wears a basket like hat that indicates that he is on a pilgrimage to sixty-six major Kannon temples around the country. There are two pilgrimages with 33 temples each: the Bando tour in the Kanto (in the East, around Edo) and the Saigoku tour in the Kansai (in the West, around Osaka). On the fork of the road above, towards the Ina river valley, a woodcutter (5) brings two loads of brushwood down from the mountains.

In the earlier impressions, there is a deep purple-red bokashi at the top of the print and the mountain slope on the right is printed in black bokashi. Then in later impressions as in the print above, the sky gets red-orange and the mountain at the back becomes dark blue and the one on the right becomes grey.

(Source: The 69 stations of the Kisokaido, Sebastian Izzard, Brazillier 2008)

Site of the former Magome castle

View of the valley and the village from Magome castle

The main reception room of Tsumago waki-Honjin (rebuilt 1877, now a museum)

And now ?

The road leaves the Kiso river, now narrow and dangerous to head via a pass towards Tsumago, then to Magome. On the road, before the station stands the site of the old castle with a commanding view of the valley. This is were in 1584 the small garrison allied with Hideyoshi succeeded in holding out to Ieyasu forces. Nothing remains of the castle on top of the hill, but it is still worth the ascent.

In 1841, Tsumago had 418 inhabitants and 31 inns. In 1911, a railway line was build along the Kiso valley and smaller villages in the mountains such as Tsumago went into decline. But in 1968, in commemoration of the centenary of the establishment of the Meiji government, the station’s buildings were reconstructed and repaired, preserving their Edo feeling. Spared by the industrial revolution, the village has only older buildings and signs of modernity have been kept out: electric lines have been buried, drink dispensers are hidden, even the mailman wears an old uniform. The honjin was mentioned in a famous novel by Shimazaki Toson and has been reconstructed in 1995 and the waki-honjin rebuilt in 1877 has also been renovated. This is where the Emperor Meiji stayed when he travelled the Nakasendo.The official notice board has also been repaired. On a small hill, overlooking the village stands the Kotokuji Temple. This is where the local stronghold once stood and it was built in the 16th century. In the main hall, the floorboard is of "usuisubari" type i.e. sounding like a nightingale when you walk on it. Usually this type of device was used in the houses of lords and aristocrats as a safety measure to prevent any silent intruders and it is surprising to see it in a Buddhist temple.

If you go to Japan and have a day to spare, then head towards Tsumago and Magome for the nicest hike between two old stations.