Leaving Shiojiri and going up along Nakasendo, then passing by Niekawa and Hirasawa, we will arrive at Narai town. It is around 25 miles journey along the old Kaido-road.
  The road is running through the bottom-line of the ravine. The travellers in the old days kept walking on the path surrounded by thick forest on the foot of mountains before reaching Narai town.

  It is said that there were the row of Japanese ceder-trees, which had been cared by people since older days, on both path-sides. The travellers must have walked along the narrow way, as though stepping on the roots of trees.
  On the moutain-path people might pass against each other, rubbing their sleaves against each other.

  Before entering Narai's town-street, at the east end of the town we find the old Shrine of Hachiman on the slope half way down the mountain reaching in front of the Narai station.
  The shrine has the stone steps from the road. Turning east half way of the steps, we find the 200 stone Jizo-statues.
  
  Near the statues stands old ceder trees under which a narrow path is running up the slope and vanishing into the grass. The path is the ruin of the old Nakasendo, i.e. Kisoji of the old days.
  The row of the ceders remains the feature what the road used to be. It was the entrance of the Stage-Town.
  
  The travellers who got out of the deep forest would feel easy when they found the town-street ― under their eyes ―standing in the open perspective.

  Now we stand at the entrance of Nrai town, then we are going to walk along the street southwestward.

  The row of Town-Houses along the street continues over 1,000 meters. It is excessively long as a town in Kiso-area.
  From the scale of the town we can understand the posistion and role Narai used to take in Kiso area. In Nakasendo it was one of the largest and most prosperous town where the population and commodities accumulated together.
  However, Torii Ridge is rushing just behind the street which is rising up so gently that we woudn't notice it. The rows of houses suddenly ends in front of the shrine of Shizume-jinja, from which a way getting over Torii Ridge-Pass to Yabuhara town starts.
  In the old days they said that Torii Ridge-Pass was the most difficult place in Kisokaido. Then at both ends of Narai town stand the shrines, for not only the people arriving at the town might thank the heaven for safety of their journey, but also the people starting from the town might pray safety.
  There are the Official Place of Notice-Board, Kosatsu-ba in Japanese, and the water in front of Shizume shrine. The board is the one restored what once used to be.
  Standing on the side of the shrine's stone-lantern, we find a fair landscape of the town-street with the background of the mountains surrounding the Kiso ravine.