Let me take you to some of the places which I visited when I came to Japan at the very first time. It is now quite some time ago but I like looking back to those days and travelling on memory lane.
Magome and Tsumago, two old villages in the Nagano Prefecture, were one of our destinations on my very first trip to Japan some years ago. Idyllically situated in the Japanese Alps, in the Edo period both were important postal stations on the Nakasendo trade route. In times of modernization the villages have lost their importance, but some mart people and willing supporters helped to preserve those places.
Apparently someone realized early enough that you can do a good business with nostalgia, something that seems to have been lost in bustling modern Asia. But here in the mountains, they have managed to stop the fall into insignificance. In the 60's of the last century to renovate and maintain the still existing old buildings and to create an atmosphere that takes you back a bit to the old Edo times.
Even though there are still no trains which stop in Magome and Tsumago, now there are countless buses and cars full of tourists from all over the country and probably also from the rest of the world which stop here for a visit.
When I passed by, I was nicely impressed as well. I was still a greenhorn here in the island kingdom and easily taken away. But the aura that both villages exude with the many restored traditional buildings just did it. Here we can easily imagine and feel "the old Japan", those paved paths amidst a magnificent backdrop of traditional buildings and gardens. I also like the architecture of these bygone times, it just puts me in a very pleasant and nostalgic mood. I like to live in the present, but why not appreciate the past and revel in it a little? Believe me, it feels really good!
But have a look yourself, I brought you a small selection of pictures from Magome and Tsumago today, which will give you some first impression of that particular mood. Please enjoy...
I wouldn't mind waiting here for a bus, which will certainly not pass by here every 10 minutes. Sometimes waiting can also have a deeper meaning and we are able to come down a bit in all the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Of course you can easily find traditional taverns, because the traveler must be well fed and cared for even in our present times. So they will eventually let wander their coins into some local pockets.
The old trade route Nakasendo leads directly through the place and you can walk so to speak on historical paths and feel like being there during Shogunate times. If there weren't all those usual souvenir stores would be, but I guess they are just part of it nowadays.
The whole ensemble here has real charm and impressed me, exactly the way I had imagined Japan or probably rather wished for. Before my first trip, I myself did not know what to expect, but what I saw definitely made an impact.
With this piece of art I end today's picture show and hope I could show you some nice impressions from the land of the rising sun. In a few days there will be new pictures, let's see where in the country we will be then.
Today, tomorrow and yesterday - everything somehow links together and should be lived as intensively as possible. Therefore, I wish you all a wonderful day!!!