I walked through Tsumago-juku, a post town on the old Nakasendo road. Located in Nagiso, Nagano Prefecture, Tsumago was the 42nd of the 69 stations on the Nakasendo, the highway that connected Edo (present-day Tokyo) and Kyoto, counting from the Edo side.
The roughly 8 km trail that runs from Magome-juku in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, over Magome Pass is known among overseas visitors as the "Samurai Road," and Tsumago marks its end. After finishing the stone-paved mountain path, walkers are welcomed by a townscape that looks just as it did in the Edo period. That experience has earned the town a wide reputation, and today it is hugely popular with travelers from around the world.

Tsumago's streetscape has survived so beautifully because the people who live here have protected it for generations. A preservation movement began in the late 1960s, and the whole community has carried the townscape forward under three principles: "Don't sell, don't rent, don't tear down." In 1976, Tsumago became one of the very first places designated as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Along streets where utility poles and signs have been carefully kept out of sight, you'll find rows of houses built in the dashibari-zukuri style, with upper floors supported by projecting beams, and lattice doors lining the way. From the Waki-honjin Okuya, an inn for traveling officials and a nationally designated Important Cultural Property, to the quiet houses of the Terashita district, every step brings you closer to the atmosphere of an Edo-period post town.

In the second half of the video, I photographed the Momosuke Bridge, which spans the Kiso River. It was built in 1922 by Fukuzawa Momosuke, known as "the King of Electric Power," to support construction of the Yomikaki Power Station. At about 247 m long, it is one of the longest wooden suspension bridges in Japan and is also designated a national Important Cultural Property.

The camera I used was the Mamiya C330 Professional S, a twin-lens reflex. Unusually for a TLR, it has interchangeable lenses, and its bellows allow close-up shooting. It was the final model in Mamiya's C series.
For film, I chose Kodak GOLD 200. Its warm, soft colors and rich tonal range gently bring out the texture of the wooden houses and stone-paved streets. I hope you enjoy, to the very end, the slow flow of time in this old post town and the timeless landscapes of Japan, captured in the square 6×6 frame.

Camera
Mamiya C330 Professional S

Lenses
MAMIYA-SEKOR 55mm F4.5
MAMIYA-SEKOR 80mm F2.8
MAMIYA-SEKOR 180mm F4.5

Film
Kodak GOLD 200 Color Negative Film

Locations
Tsumago, Nagiso, Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture (Tsumago-juku)
Yomikaki, Nagiso, Kiso District, Nagano Prefecture (Momosuke Bridge)

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