Tsumago-juku was the forty-second of the sixty-nine post towns on the Nakasendo, which connected Edo (present-day Tokyo) with Kyoto,during the Edo period.
Prior to becoming part of the Nakasendo, it was the tenth of eleven stations along the Kisoji, a minor trade route running through the Kiso Valley. As such, it was a relatively prosperous and cosmopolitan town, with an economy based on currency. It fell into obscurity and poverty, however, after the completion of the Chuo Main Line railway, which bypassed Tsumago.
In 1968, local residents began an effort to restore historical sites and structures within the town. By 1971, some 20 houses had been restored, and a charter was agreed to the effect that no place in Tsumago should be “sold, hired out, or destroyed”. In 1976, the town was designated by the Japanese government as a Nationally-designated Architectural Preservation Site.