Kronotrek - Tales of the Nakasendo

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Nakasendo - Episode 1, let's take a walk from Matsuida to Sakamoto at the base of Usui Toge.

Episodes

  1. Oct 9

    Kronotrek Tales of the Nakasendo - Episode 05 Iwamurada juku to Wada juku

    The Nakasendō takes us deeper into the heart of Japan, where ancient shrines, hidden sake breweries, mountain villages, and centuries of folklore reveal a world far removed from the tourist trail. Our journey begins with coffee and an unexpected encounter with Elvis in Iwamurada's shopping street. From there, we follow the old highway through seven historic post towns, discovering sacred foxes, medieval horse-breeding estates, ancient Buddhist temples, and the remarkable agricultural traditions of Shinano. Along the way, we meet the extraordinary Tsuchiya-san, a seventh-generation innkeeper, linguist, and rice farmer whose historic hatago conceals secret rooms, mysterious attic passages, and nightingale floors. His rice might just be the best in Japan—and we know, because we serve it ourselves! We explore the centuries-old sake breweries of Motai, visit the remarkable Nakasendō museum and historic Hamadaya Ryokan in Nagakubo, and discover an entire shrine dedicated to earthworms. Yes, earthworms. As the countryside grows wilder, we encounter traditional farmhouses, quiet forests, and the unforgettable story of a British cyclist who spent a rain-soaked night sleeping in the Wada-juku bus stop. Join Lily, Maya, O-Haru, and Brian for a warm, occasionally hilarious, bilingual journey through the living history of Japan. Our destination is Wada-juku. Tomorrow, the formidable Wada-tōge awaits. Same roads. Different centuries. This is Kronotrek.

    Kronotrek Tales of the Nakasendo - Episode 05 Iwamurada juku to Wada juku

  2. Sep 27

    Kronotrek Especial 02br— Kyoto Leste: Caminhos, Desvios & Bom Café — Edição Estendida

    Pedalar por Kyoto é fácil. Reparar no que acontece entre os pontos famosos é outra coisa. Neste especial estendido, seguimos uma volta de 38 quilômetros por Kyoto Leste, passando por livrarias, canais, lojas de bairro, cafés, oficinas, ruas comerciais e pequenos lugares que fazem a cidade funcionar no dia a dia. Brian, Maya e os convidados conversam sobre lendas antigas, engenharia, bicicletas, design, hanafuda, café, comida, comércio local e aquele tipo de desvio que acaba virando a melhor parte do passeio. A rota foi criada por Rob Colqui, Kronologer of Record, e serve como fio condutor para uma Kyoto menos apressada: uma cidade para observar, conversar, parar um pouco e seguir adiante sem transformar cada minuto em atração turística. Mais do que um passeio de bicicleta, este episódio é sobre ritmo, curiosidade e as coisas pequenas que fazem um lugar ficar na memória.

    Kronotrek Especial 02br— Kyoto Leste: Caminhos, Desvios & Bom Café — Edição Estendida

  3. Sep 27 ·  Bonus

    Kronotrek - East Kyoto: Byways, Offways & Good Coffee — Extended Version

    The same 38 km East Kyoto loop, but this time we slow down. Brian, Maya, and a few familiar voices spend more time with the second half of Rob Colqui’s route — where Kyoto shifts from temples and folklore into bookstores, bicycle culture, shopping streets, kissaten, craft, design, old commercial waterways, and the practical details that make a city work. There’s still history here: swordsmith legends, canal engineering, the old Mackerel Road, Nintendo before screens, and the working life of the Takase Canal. But this extended edition is just as interested in the Kyoto people use every day — Keibunsha’s shelves, Demachi’s shopping arcade, the bags and objects people actually carry, a proper coffee stop, and a detour toward Bike Shop Whoo, a longtime GS Astuto customer. The conversation gets more room too. Longer thoughts, more interruptions, more wandering off-topic, more guest voices, and eventually a word from route designer and Kronologer of Record Rob Colqui. This isn’t a highlights reel. It’s what happens when you stop trying to “see Kyoto” and spend a little longer paying attention to it.

    Kronotrek - East Kyoto: Byways, Offways & Good Coffee — Extended Version

  4. Sep 24

    Kronotrek Special 01 — East Kyoto: Byways, Offways & Good Coffee

    Kyoto, a special terminus on the Nakasendo, we take a short, special, diversion. Ride East Kyoto the way a curious cyclist should: slowly enough to notice the strange, beautiful, noisy, delicious stuff hiding between the famous places. In this first Kronotrek Special, the Kronologer and Maya follow a 38 km route designed by Rob Colqui, our Kronologer of Record, through canals, backstreets, shrine precincts, ramen territory, riverbanks, old commercial districts and modern Kyoto. Along the way: medieval Zen bathrooms, fox-assisted swordsmithing, boats on railway cars, possibly misplaced samurai legends, sacred dumpling folklore, Nintendo before Mario, great coffee, city noise, and more than a few reasons to stop and loiter. This is not a checklist of Kyoto attractions. It’s a ride through the city’s layers — history, folklore, food, infrastructure, neighborhood life and the odd little details you’d probably miss from a bus. Best experienced on the Kronotrek East Kyoto Self-Guided Bike Tour — regular bike or e-bike, equally welcome.

    Kronotrek Special 01 — East Kyoto: Byways, Offways & Good Coffee

  5. Sep 22

    Kronotrek - Tales of the Nakasendo Episode 04 - Takasaki to Matsuida

    This stretch of the Nakasendō doesn’t look dramatic at first. That’s the point. From Takasaki’s markets, Daruma makers and towering Kannon, we head west through Itahana and Annaka, where river crossings, imperial travel, samurai training, soy sauce, industry and old transport systems are hiding in plain sight. Then we leave the Nakasendō for a brief detour to Isobe Onsen before returning to Matsuida — the “rice post town” at the edge of the mountains. Along the way: Princess Kazunomiya, the Annaka zinc works, Ansei Tōashi, Aritaya, Niijima Jō, the Hime Kaidō, and one surprisingly persistent question: What do you miss when you’re waiting for history to look historical? A Kronotrek Companion episode about learning to read the road.

  6. Sep 21

    Kronotrek - Tales of the Nakasendo Episode 03 — Before the Pass

    Before travelers pushed west toward Sakamoto, the Usui barrier and the climb over Usui Tōge, Matsuida was a place to stop, regroup and prepare. In this episode, Lily, Maya and O-Haru settle in at Cafe Risanka near Nishi-Matsuida Station for coffee and gelato, then wander into the human side of the old Nakasendō: horses changed, sandals replaced, food and road information exchanged, travelers resting before the pass, and the very practical economy that grew around moving people through a difficult landscape. We also trace the changing life of this small stretch of road into the modern era — from post-town service and agriculture to sericulture, factory commuting by bicycle, and today’s cafés, cycling, lodging and outfitting. Princess Kazunomiya’s enormous 1861 procession passes through the story, as does the wider world of inns, travelers, service workers and the meshimori-no-onna economy that existed in post towns like Matsuida. Those broader historical realities are discussed as part of the town’s social history, not as assumptions about any one surviving building. And as coffee cups empty, the old logic of the place starts to feel familiar: eat, repair what needs repairing, check the time, gather your nerve — then keep moving west. Kronotrek Companion is history as traveling conversation: people, food, roads, bicycles, odd details, local memory and the things that happen between the official landmarks.

  7. Sep 19

    Kronotrek -Tales of the Nakasendo - Episode 02 - Across the Usui Toge

    From Sakamoto-juku, we climb toward Usui Tōge and cross into the high country of Karuizawa, Oiwake and Otai. This episode follows the Nakasendō through one of its most dramatic transitions: from the steep mountain approaches of Gunma to the cooler Asama highlands of eastern Nagano. Along the way, Lily, Maya and our guests unpack the strange reinvention of Karuizawa from declining post town to resort, the local legends surrounding Japan’s first modern constitution, Beate Sirota Gordon’s connection to Karuizawa and the postwar constitution, and John Lennon’s stays at the Mampei Hotel. Mount Asama keeps returning to the conversation, as do rice, sake and—inevitably—whisky. We end in modern Miyota at Otai-juku, a much smaller and quieter post station than Sakamoto, and a fitting bookend to the journey across the pass. As always, Kronotrek Companion is less an audio guide than a traveling conversation: history, landscape, food, politics, odd trivia and the occasional argument, made for walking and riding.

  8. Sep 15

    Kronotrek - Tales of the Nakasendo Episode 01 - Matsuida

    Kronotrek Matsuida ep 1. Join Lily, Seijiro-san, Nakamura-san and Maya as we visit Matsuida and travel up the Usui Pass. Ponder the kamemeishi (clay pot dish), Apt Road (first significant cog rail in Japan) and more trivia of this section. The guests are synthetic - however the stories are from actual experiences , accounts and places along the Nakasendo.

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Nakasendo - Episode 1, let's take a walk from Matsuida to Sakamoto at the base of Usui Toge.

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