THE CEDAR WALK TOGAKUSHI NAGANO JAPAN:
Togakushi village is a small township in the Joshinetsu National Park in the Japanese alps, about 45 minutes by bus from Nagano city. It’s a beautiful skiing, hiking and spiritual destination that is also renowned for its soba noodles. The Cedar walk to the Okusha shrine is by no means the hardest walk ever done, at only 4-5 kms roundtrip but if you do it in November it’s dang icy and may take a little longer. Having said that while I was there I saw a girl do it in high heels so…
Other than a few hairy patches of solid frozen ice on stone steps it’s so casual. You have heaps of time to take in the beauty of the tree lined path and the snow capped mountains visible between them. There are plenty of longer and harder walks in the park but the cedar walk is one of the most popular for it’s spirituality and history.
Now to eating… Togakushi is well known for it’s long history of incredible soba I don’t know if it’s the picturesque location, the chill in the air or the general alpine vibe, but the reviews do not lie. It has the most delicious, flavoursome and textured noodles i’ve ever slurped. And the tempura prawn aint bad either. We ate at ‘Uzuraya’ which is a classic looking Japanese restaurant with a noodle making viewing room on the street.
All in all this is a real good time.
Uzaraya (soba)
3229 Togakushi, Nagano 381-4101, Nagano Prefecture
by Max Blackmore
