The Tokaido trail is a historic path connecting Kyoto and Tokyo along the coastline. It consist of 53 stations and was one of the viable routes for Samurais and merchants in the Edo period. However since it crosses a lot of rivers it was not considered to be very safe. Noble people would consider the Nakasendo which goes through the mountain-ish inland (see more and here). Today it is said to be a more easier trail since it doesn’t have a high altitude difference and bridges are well established. There is even a Shinkensen line called the Tokaido line along that path.
How did i decided to do this trail?
So truth be told when i prepared a presentation about Omiyage i just randomly read about the Tokaido trail and instantly thought to myself that i would do this. It sounds like an interesting challenge and a deeper dive into Japanese culture. I am very thrilled to walk the same path and maybe even see the same things as people in the past.
In this post i will document my daily hike:
Diary: Tokaido Trail – lessons learned
Some final thoughts: Since this trip was my first actual longer hike i will list my lessons learned in this post. Some might be very obvious to more experienced hikers and some might be very specific to Japan only. Toiletries …
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 12 | Kyoto – end of the trip | 23.08.2019
Today was not really a spectacular and glory day for me and quite a anticlimactic to end this trip. I woke up to a measly weather. However the worst part was the blister on my right leg. It turned out…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 11 | Nagoya sightseeing | 22.08.2019
Today was a Zero day for me because i wanted to go on sightseeing one of the biggest city in Japan. My Hostel was located right in the center but i wanted to go both to the northern and southern…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 10 | Nagoya | 21.08.2019
09:00 wake up I proceeded the morning with planning for the upcoming day and decided to go for Unagi for lunch since it is supposed to be quite fresh in Hamamatsu and a tad cheaper than elsewhere. My menu consisted…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 9 | Hamamatsu – Nakajima sand dunes | 20.08.2019
09:00 wake up 10:40 I left Iwata to go to Hamamatsu station by train and from there directly headed to the Hamamatsu castle. The Hamamatsu castle is quite special as it was the residence for the first Tokugawa Shogun Tokugawa…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 8 | Iwata | 20.08.2019
09:00 wake up I prepared myself and took the train from Shizuoka station to Shimada station. I therefore skipped the Tokaido stations: Mariko, Okabe, Fujieda. 12:30 arrived at the Horai Bridge which is the largest pedestrian wooden bridge in the…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 7 | Shizuoka – Miho no Matsuba | 18.08.2019
09:00 wake up At the Eiri juku side I only found this sign as a landmark but that should suffice. Today shall be my sightseeing day. I proceeded to walk to the Miho no Matsuba which is a famous sightseeing…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 6 | Shimizu | 17.08.2019
09:00 wake up I really lived far away from the Numazu station and since another interesting sight was on my way to the station I decided to give it a visit. 11:45 arrival at VIEW-O Watergate. This 30m tall Watergate…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 5 | Mishima| 16.08.2019
08:00 wake up, the rain drops splashing on the window and the hauling of the wind don’t really welcome to a new day so I snoozed till 9 to have those problems be solved by 1 hour later future me.…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 4 | Hakone | 15.08.2019
07:30 wake up but still very tired snoozed until 08:30 I forgot to mention that my hotel was near konomiya station in Sakawa 09:30 let’s go… somehow, unfortunately there is a typhoon going on around which does effect the Shizuoka…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 3 | Odawara | 14.08.2019
09:00 wake up, I really wanted to wake up earlier today but how to go around Hakone kept me awake up really late yesterday. 11:30 start at chigasaki 12:40 arriving at my Hiratsuka Checkpoint – the Hiratsuka Hachimangu (founded in…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 2 | Kamakura | 13.08.2019
09:00 wake up 10:30 packing planing for next days breakfast Today I walked through Hodogaya, Totsuka and Fujisawa but because the cities are quite developed I didn’t find any milestone. I oriented myself on the old Tokaido signs and roads…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day 1 | Yokohama | 12.09.2019
09:00 wake up at the Train Hostel somehow feeling really tired 10:30 breakfast and organizing hostels for upcoming days finished starting to go to the point zero – nihonbashi 10:57 start at Nihonbashi 12:57 first Station shinagawa-juku It even says…
Diary: Tokaido Trail – Day Zero preparation
I am very happy that my former flatmates can still bear with me sitting in the kitchen, doing my chores and cooking stuff up. Today marks the actually last day that we will see each other in this constellation since…