The complete Nakasendo field guide, all 21 GPX tracks, and every place we stayed

Nakasendo: From Kyoto to Tokyo in 19 Days A 540km walk through the Japan most travellers never see

Long before the Shinkansen, there was the Nakasendo — the "road through the central mountains," one of five great highways built to connect Edo-period Japan. For 19 days in early spring, we walked all 540km of it, from Kyoto's Sanjo Ohashi bridge to Nihonbashi in the heart of Tokyo, through 69 historic post towns that most visitors to Japan will never hear of, let alone see.

This is the book we wished existed before we went: a day-by-day account of the whole route, written as it happened. The stone-paved mountain passes of the Kiso Valley, the vintage Showa-era cafés, the retired demons and mountain shrines, the taxi we nearly missed, the bear bells we searched three towns to find, the wrong turns, the right ones, and the ryokan owners who fed us far more than we'd paid for.

Each day includes everything you'd need to plan it yourself: the distance, walking time, weather, post towns, and downloadable GPX tracks, plus the full story of what that day was really like. Along the way, we've folded in practical details that are genuinely hard to find in English. The bus from Hosokute runs once in the morning for locals going into town. The other way out is a shared taxi you have to reserve. Nobody tells you that in English — we found out, and it's in the book. We've also put together 3- or 7-day variants so you can tailor the trip to your needs.

Whether you're planning to walk it yourself, dreaming about it, or want to know what's out there between Japan's two most famous cities, this is the guide — and the story — we didn't have, and think you should.

• The complete 19-day route from Kyoto to Tokyo, told day by day exactly as it happened: not a summary, the actual journal. Days 1–8 are written. Days 9–19 are free to you as they're published.
• A downloadable GPX track for every day so that you can follow the exact route on your own watch or phone.
• Practical planning most English-language sources don't cover: rural buses and community taxis, and a realistic budget breakdown.
• Hand-picked accommodation notes for every stop, from where we stayed to where we wish we had.
• A packing list built from actually doing it — including the gear that mattered and the gear we didn't need.
• Written by a native Japanese speaker, Hitomi's Japanese fluency and cultural background turn roadside markers, shrine folklore, and small-town history into stories, not just captions.

Download your Nakasendo field guide below