Narai Station - Shiojiri

The closest station to Narai-juku

It is Narai Station on the JR Tokai Chuo Line, and there are quiet villages and Nakasendo in the old town.

It's a beautiful station. The stationmaster's announcement is also polite. I'm glad that you will be able to broadcast it after a few minutes delay.

The entrance station of Narai-juku. Private cars cannot drive from this station to Narai-juku.

Nakasendo "Narai-juku" is a post station on Nakasendo known to those in the know. It's a halfway place, so it's hard to visit, and the post station is "frozen" in winter, so I think it's better to use the railroad. By the way, I will attach a screenshot, but it was -12 ° C around 8:30 AM (before getting on the train) on December 29, 2021 when I visited. I left Matsumoto around 6 o'clock in the early morning and it was -4 ℃. When I arrived at Narai after 7 o'clock in the early morning, it had dropped to -14 ° C, so I think you can see how cold it is, so I recommend using the railroad. From Matsumoto or Shiojiri, you can go by regular train. If you don't stop at the shops and various exhibition halls, you can stay in the post station for less than an hour, and you can see various things while going back and forth, so I think you should go sightseeing so that you can catch the train after about 1 to 2 hours. However, if the shop is open, it is highly recommended to adjust the time at a place like an old folk house cafe. The station was a rural station and I thought it would be unmanned early in the morning, but there were people at the counter from 8 o'clock. The station building is used as a waiting room as it is, and there is also a small waiting room on the platform for Nagoya. Two-car trains such as one-man cars stop just in front of the waiting room and have a door for boarding, so it is better to wait in the waiting room or near the waiting room. When I came, it was a 6-car train, so when I was waiting to take a picture of the train from the first 6-car train, Matsumoto, the train passed lightly in front of me (laughs).

As soon as you exit the ticket gate of the station and turn left, you will find the entrance to Narai-juku. There is a parking lot in front of the entrance, but there is a charge. It may be unavoidable in terms of location. There is a free place a little away. At the station building at the entrance of the tourist spot, it feels like it matches the atmosphere of Narai-juku. The station building is small. Do many tourists come by car? The wooden sign with the station name is magnificent. Although the number is small, there is also a regional promotion bus that runs to Shiojiri Station for 100 yen. (The bus stop is right next to the station building)