by jdeks » Mon 28 May, 2018 5:20 pm
I've done some trekking in Japan including the Nakasendo.
It's a footpath. Terrain is not going to be an issue. All the other Japanese hikers are going to have walking poles and gaiters and boots and anything else the catalog had, but you could do it in sandals (and indeed thats often what I wore).
Take whatever you're comfortable with, is easy to get on and off at the doorstep, and will last you the full journey - outside the major cities, proper trekking gear in Japan is surprisingly hard to find. Most of it is fashion-glamping stuff, clothing is sized to much smaller people (esp shoes), and especially in the later months all the outdoors stores switch their stock to skigear.