Page 149 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Japan

Bathing macaques in Jigokudani Monkey Park, near Nagano

CENTRAL HONSHU

Lying between Kyoto and Tokyo’s sprawling
suburbs, Central Honshu epitomizes the contrasts
of Japan today. Its densely populated coastal belt
includes Yokohama and Nagoya, the country’s
second- and fourth-largest cities, while the interior
contains its highest, wildest mountains, with
Mount Fuji as well as the North and South Japan
Alps, with many peaks over 10,000 ft (3,000 m).
During the Edo period five post roads crossed
the region, two of which linked Edo (Tokyo) and
Kyoto. Feudal lords were required to spend half
their time in Edo, so long processions traveled
the roads, and checkpoints and post towns grew
up along the route. Most heavily used were the
Tokaido via Yokohama, and Hakone, Shizuoka,
and the Nakasendo through the Kiso Valley,
which can still be walked. The settlements en
route are relatively accessible, yet remote enough
to remain unspoiled. The post towns of Kiso and
the thatched villages of Shokawa offer Edo-period
architecture, while Takayama and Chichibu attract
thousands to their historic festivals, which origi-
nated in the 16th and 18th centuries respectively.
The region’s roots are also evident in the tradi-
tional crafts produced here: lacquerware in
Takayama, Noto, and Kiso; carving in Kamakura;
and yosegi-zaiku (Japanese marquetry) in Hakone.
Until the 1970s, silkworms were raised in Shokawa
and Chichibu, and silk is still dyed in Kanazawa.
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