Ageoshimo is a district of Ageo, a commuter city in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, on the flat Omiya plateau between the Arakawa and Ayase rivers. In the Edo period, Ageo was a post town on the Nakasendō, one of the five great highways that radiated from Edo, linking the capital with Kyoto through the mountains of central Japan. Travellers, merchants and feudal lords on their way to and from the capital stayed in its inns.
Today, Ageo is largely residential and suburban, but traces of the old countryside remain in its fields, groves and shrines. The Arakawa river, to the west, has wide floodplains with parks, golf courses and fields, and the embankments offer long views across the plain. On clear winter days, Mount Fuji appears far to the south-west, and the mountains of Chichibu rise to the west.
As a scenic stretch, Ageoshimo is honest about what it is: a passage through the suburbs on the way to the mountains. The roads are flat and straight, with traffic lights and convenience stores, and traffic can be heavy. But once you head west towards Kawagoe and the Chichibu hills, the landscape opens up. Kawagoe, known as Little Edo, has a beautifully preserved district of old merchant houses with thick clay walls and a famous bell tower.
Fuel and food are plentiful in Ageo. An early start helps you beat the traffic and reach the mountains while the roads are still quiet.