Narai-juku
Encyclopedia
was the thirty-fourth of the sixty-nine stations
69 Stations of the Nakasendo
The are the rest areas along the Nakasendō, which ran from Nihonbashi in Edo to Sanjō Ōhashi in Kyoto. The route stretched approximately and was an alternate trade route to the Tōkaidō.-Stations of the Nakasendō:...

 of the Nakasendō
Nakasendo
The , also called the , was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 stations between Edo and Kyoto, crossing through Musashi, Kōzuke, Shinano, Mino and Ōmi provinces...

, as well as the second of eleven stations along the Kisoji
Kisoji
The was an old trade route in the Kiso Valley that stretched from Niekawa-juku in Nagano Prefecture to Magome-juku in Gifu Prefecture. There were eleven resting spots along the route, all of which became part of the Nakasendō when it was established...

. It is located in the present-day city of Shiojiri
Shiojiri, Nagano
is a city located in Nagano, Japan. Its name literally means "the end of salt".-History:Municipal Area Changes* April 1, 1927-The village of Shiojiri gained town status....

, Nagano Prefecture
Nagano Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

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History

Narai-juku had the highest elevation of all the spots along the Kisoji. Because of all the visitors going through the Torii Pass (鳥居峠 Torii Tōge), Narai flourished as a post town and was referred to as "Narai of 1,000 buildings" (奈良井千軒 Narai senken). It has since become one of Japan's Nationally-designated Architectural Preservation Sites, so the buildings have been kept much like they originally were in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

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Neighboring post towns

Nakasendō & Kisoji
Niekawa-juku
Niekawa-juku
was the thirty-third of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.-History:...

 - Narai-juku - Yabuhara-juku
Yabuhara-juku
was the thirty-fifth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō, as well as the third of eleven stations on the Kisoji. It is located in the present-day village of Kiso, in the Kiso District of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Yabuhara-juku is located shortly before the Torii Pass, which was the most...

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