Nagayamichi Road

This narrow lane in the old post town of Kumagawa-juku takes its name from a nagaya, a longhouse barracks that once housed up to 16 ashigaru foot soldiers. The building is long gone, but the path retains the name and its unhurried, historic character. During the Edo period, these soldiers likely assisted the town magistrate, guarding gates, handling rice tax shipments, and inspecting travelers at the Kumagawa Guardhouse. Walking the lane now, flanked by well-preserved merchant houses, gives a concrete sense of how the town's official and commercial life was layered together along the old Hokkoku Kaido road.