Narai-juku

Narai-Juku, which was a post town on the Nakasendo–a road that connected present-day Tokyo to Kyoto during the Edo period. Narai-Juku is one of Japan’s Nationally Designated Architectural Preservation Sites and is one of the few sights in Japan where streets of the Edo period still exist. The famous ukiyo-e artist, Keisai Eisen, produced a series of woodblock prints of the Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido. His prints depicted scenes and images of daily life the lodging towns where many travelers gathered. Narai-juku has had a thriving woodworking industry since the beginning of the Edo period. Special products to this area include round wooden lunch boxes, combs, lacquerware, etc.