Nakasendo: An Old Post Road

 The most heavily travelled and important of Japan's post roads was the Tokaido, which connected Edo (modern Tokyo), the capital of the Tokugawa shogunate, and Kyoto, the old imperial seat. The 53 stations along the way were made famous in a series of ukiyoe woodblock prints by Hiroshige. The nakasendo , as its name suggests (naka is inner, sen mountain), was an inland route (unlike the Tokaido, which followed Japan's Pacific coastline before heading away from the coast to Kyoto.) The way was longer, mountainous, and boasted 69 posts, starting at Nihonbashi and winding its way through present-day Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Gifu, and Shiga before arriving in Kyoto. One section of the road remains much as it was during the Edo era (1603-1868) and is the subject of the following video link.