---
title: Narai-juku
url: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/notes/narai-juku/
lang: en
journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/narai/
---

# Narai-juku

A little of each town’s story　/　Shiojiri, Nagano

The 34th of the 69 post towns on the Nakasendo, equidistant from Edo and Kyoto. It is the highest of the eleven Kiso Valley post towns, and travelers crossing the steep Torii Pass made it so busy that it was called "Narai of a thousand houses." Townhouses in the dashibari style, with second floors projecting over the street, continue for about a kilometer along the Narai River. Six water stations in the town once served as drinking water for travelers and as firefighting water. On May 31, 1978, it was designated a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.

Narai, Shiojiri, Nagano

## This moment in the journey: Narai-juku, the old post town

My destination was Narai-juku, a post town on the Nakasendo, the old highway between Edo and Kyoto. It sits almost exactly at the midpoint of the road and is the highest of the eleven Kiso Valley post towns. With the steep Torii Pass just ahead, it bustled with travelers and was known as "Narai of a thousand houses."

Wooden townhouses line the street for about a kilometer along the Narai River. A post office sign and a red postbox, a navy noren curtain beside a barber's pole. Walking past the houses with their overhanging second floors, I felt as though I had wandered into an Edo-period post town.

Along the street were water stations where water pours from a wooden spout. They once gave drinking water to travelers crossing the Torii Pass and served as firefighting water for the town. The townscape was designated a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 1978. At the end of the street, the autumn mountains rose close.

![The main street of Narai-juku lined with wooden townhouses](https://karigurashijourney.com/img/narai/s46-1200.jpg)
- Sources: https://www.naraijuku.com/narai/
- Sources: https://www.go-nagano.net/tradition-and-culture/id21331
- Sources: https://www.go-nagano.net/tradition-and-culture/id19053
- Sources: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/奈良井宿

Read this scene in the full journey: https://karigurashijourney.com/en/episodes/narai/