From the northern Alps we made our way south to spend a couple days walking part of the Nakasendo Trail. The trail is the old road that connected Tokyo to Kyoto in the Edo period. There were, and still are, dozens of towns along the route to support travelers along their way. We took a bus and train to Nagiso to start our walk on the path. We walked for about an hour through the town, forest and up to hilltop castle ruins before arriving at the post town of Tsumago.
We walked through town to our ryokan where we happily put down our backpacks. We haven’t had to do much long distance walking with our full backpacks (other than Nepal)!
After enjoying another kaiseki feast we took a nighttime stroll through town. We were the only ones around, the streets were lantern light and quiet.
The visitor center has a bag transfer service from the town of Tsumago to Magome, our next destination, so we took advantage of that and strolled off for a lovely day of hiking.
More bear bells, this time installed along the road at various distances so you could ring them as you pass by.
There wasn’t much fall foliage in this part of the Alps yet but fall flowers were in full bloom!
We arrived in Magome in the afternoon and wandered around checking out the historic town, some of the shops and various food offerings. It’s amazing to think how long these towns have existed as travelers pass through just like we are. 
We ended up snacking on goodies from several vendors – chestnut ice cream and peach ice cream, pork and veggie buns, roasted chestnuts and tea. We then hopped on a bus, followed by a train, to spend the night in Nagoya (have we mentioned… transportation is so easy in Japan!). The next morning we took our last high speed train back to Tokyo.
With only a few days left in Japan we packed our schedule with gardens, ramen, gardens, sushi, gardens, temples…..you get the idea.
The Imperial Palace – we took a tour of the Imperial Palace grounds. 
Koishikawa-Kōrakuen garden, which was right by the Tokyo Dome from which we could hear cheering. 
We spent a couple hours finding the perfect teacups to bring back with us in the kitchen district along Kappabashi Street. We ended up buying from a shop that’s been around for 150 years, making the same cup that we bought.
We walked through the popular Shibuya area which was crazy crowded on a sunny weekend day! And Akihabara, the electronic district, although it’s turned into more of a center for hardcore anime and video game fans (also busy on a weekend night).
View from the 45th floor of the Government Center Building! So much city! It was amazing to see the biggest city on earth from this view point. And a view of Mt. Fuji too. 
We visited the Ōta Memorial Museum of Art which has woodblock prints from famous Japanese artists. The prints were amazing and so detailed.
The five story pagoda at Senso-ji Temple (the oldest in Tokyo, first temple was built in 645AD) with the Tokyo Skytree (built in 2011, the second tallest structure in the world) in the background. The juxtaposition of ancient history and modernity in Japan continues to amaze us!
Kiyosumi garden just before sunset. 
Our last night in Tokyo we visited the Fukagawa Fudo temple to see the really unique fire ritual at the temple with chants, drums and fire. Then wandered around the city, trying to soak it all in, not wanting to leave. We can’t wait to come back and visit Japan again!
Highlights of Nakasendo and our Tokyo send-off:
- Tsumago to Magome walk
- Fukagawa Fudo temple in Tokyo with the daily fire rituals and hallway filled with 10,000 crystal Buddhas
- Government Center Building in Tokyo. We had to wait like 45 minutes because we timed it poorly, but it was worth it