{"id":261,"date":"2020-03-20T15:14:30","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T15:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sixtydays.org\/japan\/?p=261"},"modified":"2022-02-27T01:45:25","modified_gmt":"2022-02-27T01:45:25","slug":"tsumago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sixtydays.org\/japan\/tsumago\/","title":{"rendered":"Tsumago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During the Edo period<\/a>, Tsumago was the forty-second of the sixty-nine post towns<\/a>, which connected Edo<\/a> (present-day Tokyo<\/a>) with Kyoto<\/a>. Prior to becoming part of the Nakasend\u014d, it was the tenth of eleven stations<\/a> along the Kisoji<\/a>, a minor trade route running through the Kiso Valley<\/a>. As such, it was a relatively prosperous and cosmopolitan town, with an economy based on currency. It fell into obscurity and poverty, however, after the completion of the Ch\u016b\u014d Main Line<\/a> railway, which bypassed Tsumago.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 1968, local residents began an effort to restore historical sites and structures within the town. By 1971, some 20 houses had been restored, and a charter was agreed to the effect that no place in Tsumago should be “sold, hired out, or destroyed”. In 1976, the town was designated by the Japanese government as a Nationally Designated Architectural Preservation Site. Despite its historical appearance, however, Tsumago is fully inhabited, though with tourist shops as the town’s main business.<\/p>Wikipedia<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n