During the Edo Period, Narai (奈良井) marked the half way point between Kyoto and Edo to travelers along the Nakasendo Route. It was the most wealthy post town of the Kiso Valley, and was sometimes referred to as "Narai of a Thousand Houses". Visitors will understand this nickname when comparing Narai to the other former post towns in the area; the preserved houses stretch on much longer in Narai than elsewhere.
I was lucky enough to have some time to visit Narai Juku. It was always a dream of mine to visit all this post walks, and do a hiking adventure.
I was visiting a nearby city, and had the chance to hop in a train and visit this small town for a couple of hours.
Narai is absolutely stunning, I thought 1 hs was gonna be enough, but I ended staying and exploring for around 3 hs, and still, everything felt really rushed. Understand that train service is really slow in this area, so there were many options.
I'm sad that the light is so harsh if I have to be honest. But it's not always possible to have an ongoing sunset for hour purposes. (Dreamy, huh?)
