In Kiso Japan, there are Tsumago, Magome, Narai, and old post towns of Nakasendo-Kisoji
among Mt.Ontake, Mt.Kisokomagatake and high mountains.
Ryojoan is the only Youth Hostel in Kiso area.
I'm a great lover of Ryojoan.
The manager of Ryojoan Youth Hostel doesn't know about this web page.
Don't ask her about this page please.
She can't read web pages nor E-mail, so you can't reserve a bed by web.

Walking to Ryojoan from JR station

I often walk to Ryojoan YH from JR Harano station
which is the next to Kisofukushima from Nagiso by local.
Take a break, be stopping on the way, etc., without haste and let's come.
It takes about 1 hour.

One side of Harano station is a shrine and woods, another side is row of houses.
You come out to the direction of row of houses to Ryojoan YH.

If you go through a shrine according to the signboard of the "Myojo rock" and go on footpath,
the Kiso river which carried out at your feet and became a stream is seen.
The steep hill of the point is gone up to the Myojo rock.

The tourist resort figure of the Hiyoshimura village stands in front of the station.
Since Ryojoan YH is Kiso Fukushimacho Ohbara, it is not shown in this map.
A hotel "Shuhzansou" is visible to the right end and a little above of the map.
Beyond its the other side and near it, Ryojoan YH is .
Almost guidebooks written in English write and people who has not come Kiso calls Oh-hara,
but it's wrong.
"Ohbara" is correct here different from Kyoto Oh-hara.

A public telephone is also in front of the station.
There are public telephones at the Road station Harano, on"Suishaya"front[ on Harano crossing ],
at the Kisokoma highland shopping center, in front of Kisokoma golf place, and Shuhzansou.

When you come out to the direction of row of houses,
the street soon ends and there is , or often writed as same, Nakasendo Kisoji old highway.
Although this "Harano"village is not an old posting station,
It is also the old colony which is the middle of the Kisofukushima old posting station and the Miyanokosi by the Nakasendo.
The right is Kisofukushima and Kyou far, and the left is Miyanokoshi and far Edo.
Turn right here and go to YH.
Koshinzuka [ many stone images of the Buddha , guardian deity of the people, folk faith etc.] is visible ahead at once.
In this neighborhood, it is often seen at the entrance or the center of colonys by old streets.

If you enter the road beside this Koshinzuka and go up the path with gravel and grass immediately to the left,
it's the shortcut to the Root19.
It also becomes the shortcut to the buckwheat noodles snack bar "Genji" and a convenience store "Timely"
"Genji" to the right after you come out to the national highway , and "Timely" to the left.

Big Koshinzuka is situated next in the place to which it went for a while.
Mt. Komagatake is visible to your left hand if you escape from the colony along with Nakasendo.
A long time ago, from here to the foots of mountains
here was a prairie and the pasturage ground of the Kisouma horse.
Children of the Kisofukushima town had gone on excursion to there and sung,
"Ohbara, a large grasslands, horce feces land", etc.

The monument of the "Nakasendo middle point" stands on the side of a way.
Seemingly, it will become the exactly same distance from Kyou and Edo.
The same monument also in road station Harano by the national highway was made recently.

Also if you take the thin way of Koshinzuka to the Root19 and you walk to along the highway to the right,
you can arrive at Road station Harano
at which some foods and specialty of this region are seld and there are some sight seeing pamphlets,
and if you go on, there is Harano crossing.

It is about 1km from the JRstation,
there is a signboard of the Shinano natural sidewalk indicating the direction of the Kisokoma highland.
You turn left here according to this sign to Kisokoma-highland.

If you go straight on without bending, Nakasendo will break to the left soon.
At the corner there is the store with the most various foods between the JRstation and Ryojoan YH.
It is closed at 20:00, and every sunday it is closed all day long.
Although wine and beer is seld, everyone must keep temperance in Ryojoan YH.
If you go further, at which Nakasendo and the national highway are crossed
there is the tabled'hote store "oshokuji-Kisokoma" with much quantityfor about 600 - 800 yen.
I recommend it who don't book his supper at YH since he can not arrive till dinner time of YH
[it's 18:40.Late and lost, because nabe together]
and who save mony ih his journey but wants to eat a lot of fried cabbage rarely.
The name of a place of this neighborhood is called "Nanawarai"as 7 Smiles, and it's become the local brand of sake.

If you bend according to the sign to the Kisokoma highland,
you will cross the Root19 on the "Harano crossing".
It is the way along which the bus which comes from the Kisofukushima station passes.

Here is near to the road station Harano,
even if you cross Harano crossing and return to the dry left along Root19.
A buckwheat noodles snack bar "Suishaya" is situated at the corner of Harano crossing.
People says that Suishaya, the taste is lost heard however in a busy season.
By the business of a lunch, the "Suishaya" has closed in the evening , "Genji"too.

You can see Mt.Komagatake at the front from here.
It becomes somtime the snowy road of the depth about your ankle, March-January.
Also there is a ski resort beyond here.
In winter please take care especially of cars.

Soon, the Shohzawa river is seen to the right.

Surrounding houses once become piece grove.

For a while, an european style restrant or cafe come in sight into the left from the place at which grove along the road ends once.
It opens daytime and night and closes for rest around 14:00 - 16:00.
You go on straight into next piece grove and there is two snack bars also together soon.
There is no stand bar or restrant after the evening beyond here.

The houses of the mountain of the cottage surrounded by summering ground niece and trees from this neighborhood or a company are scattered.
On both sides of the driveway and roadside trees, it is separated from the sidewalk.

If you go in the left, there is a Kiso culture park.
A music festival is opened in the end of every summer.
There is also the office of the Kiso wide area association (towns and villages union).
The sight seeing pamphlets of each towns and villages of the Kiso valley are arranged.

A shopping center is situated in along the road.
This is the last stand.
Although there are many high class things generally like the decent summering ground,
There are many kinds of the specialty article of Kiso and the price of them is also common.

Then, on the right side of the way, there is a signboard of The Kisokoma highland and altitude.
The signboard of altitude which shows you a little less than 800m was also over the bridge of the Shohzawa-river of nanawarai of Root19.
The altitude of Ryojoan YH is 1000m and several 10m.

Then there is crossroads with the bus stop of "shinmei" soon.
If you bend on the right or the left, the cottage ground will continue further.
To Ryojoan YH, going straight.
If you go to the right, you can go through the cottage ground down to the waterside of the Shohzawa-river.

The village bus of the Hiyoshimura is also running through another way from the Miyanokosi station to here.
It will be the last bus on 4-5 o'clock.

It applies from the rainy season in autumn, Along a lower valley, even if it has become cloudy,
in this neighborhood, it may come out on a cloud and may clear up.

You walk on by the tennis court of a resort condominium,
and the sound of stream becomes large and the Shohzawa-river approaches the right.

The hotel "Shuhzansou" in the left is pulling the hot spring.
Although based on a day, a bath can be taken till around 21:00.
It is the nearest hot spring from Ryojoan YH.
Moreover, Gohei rice cake etc. are eaten in the daytime.

Then the road goes across the Shohzawa-river.

It is the entrance into Ohbara.
There is Koshinzuka. The map of Ohbara and signboards of tourist homes stands at clossing.
A field of view opens in a right hand, and Mt.Ontake looks large.

Ohbara, as the highway of the time before Nakasendo, the KisoKodo passed.
It is the old village in the bosom of mountains.
Houses of Kiso-style are in some places.
In Spring to autumn, a small rice field, a small buchwheat field and a small corn field etc. spreads out gradually
A snowy season is a sheet of snowy field.

There is clossing in the place of maps or signboards.
You go left into Ohbara.
Mt. Komagatake is sitting on the front again.
There is a lantern made by stone along the road,
beyond them, in the woods, equivalent to the back hand of Koshinzuka,
there is the shrine of Ohbara village.

You will see for a while the first house in Ohbara and a laundry to right side.
Subsequently there is a public hall in Ohbara,
and there is a board which the name of a direction and a mountain wrote to the site.
If it has cleared up well, the top in Norikura or Hotaka is also visible to a left-rear method.

If you go streight at the clossing next to entrance in Ohbara, and turn left at the next,
you also come here, the Ohbara public hall,
by the ancient times passing through the colony of the Ohbara Shimomura.
It is the beautiful road
which has the mountain village airs, such as houses, and the tree of Kobushi,
along with a brook.

The guidance board of Ryojoan YH is in the next turning of the public hall,
and there is an arrow pointing right.
This road is the street of Ohbara Nakamura.
You'll go into a colony by this,
and there are old kiso houses, a stone-statue-of-the-Buddha group, stone walls,
an old cherry tree, a brook, ......
The guidance board
of "70m to the right and the Kiso Ryojoan youth hostel" is in the end of the street.

The ridge obstracts and neither Mt.Ontake nor Mt.Komagatake is visible in the colony of Nakamura.
If you go to the left about 100m, a field of view to see mountains will open once again.

links
Page of YH Parents in Nagano(English) address and phone
(English)
Page of alumnus volunteer's of Ryojoan youth hostel(Japanese)
Kisofukushimacho, Nagano prefecture(Japanese)
Hiyoshimura, Nagano prefecture(Japanese)
Kiso-net(Japanese)
Ryojoan is searched with Google in Japanese(Japanese)

mail about this page

Hello, welcome home ! Welcome to Ryojoan YH.

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Ryojouan, kisokomagatake, ontake,
narai, tsumago, old town, travel, japan