Old Routes of Japan: Tracking down Japan off the beaten path from the eyes of a Japanese native

I am going to divide Shimada inn town part into two: the inn town, and the river Oi crossing.  Today you can still see old structures of narrow houses, but in overall, it is not easy to find traits of what old Shimada inn town used to be. Let’s look at the overview map. There is a sign where Shimada inn town east gate used to be.  Shimada had three honjin VIP inns, which means that the inn town was large, primarily because it is located in the east bank of river Oi. River Oi used to flood when heavy rain came. During early 1600s, Edo shogunate set a big construction project to strengthen dykes on the east bank.  Still, especially on spring season, the snow on the southern Japanese alps melt, water filled up the river for days and weeks that it was impossible to cross the river. So travelers from the east had to stay in Shimada until the river water level is low enough to be able to cross. We will go on more details on the next blog.  At a glance, Shimada inn town doe...

JR Samegai station. Photo taken by me in November 2022. Samegai is a small Nakasendo inn town in Maibara city. On my blog, small towns and villages are being featured. It is tempting to let many people know your discoveries(and my discoveries too!).  But when you look at these small towns and villages, you will soon notice that accommodations are limited, the access is oftentimes limited, and there is limited information in other languages other than English.  You will be able to find all the basics of etiquettes online, and probably even Chat GPT can give you some clues.  From my experience, here are some things to know: 1. Never visit with large groups. This will easily overwhelm the capacity of small places. If you do visit with others, limit the number of your group, or at least divide the group into small groups, like 4-5 people, and arrange schedule so that multiple groups will not visit the same place at the same time, in same hours.  2. Information in other l...

Fujieda is the 22nd inn town from Edo/Tokyo-Nihonbashi. To be honest, Fujieda inn town looked boring at a glance from the street view. But am I right? Here is the overview.  For more details, see the trail map on the reference section.  According to Sasuga Shizuoka Tokaido map, Edo-side gate existed around this intersection.  Here is the info board about Fujieda. This is in front to a shrine of Yebisu Daijin Daikokuten, one of Seven Lucky Gods.   Yearly in the 19th and 20th of November, the shrine holds a festival.  Across the street, there used to be a toiya cargo terminal.  This part of Today’s Fujieda inn town is an arcade street called Sawayaka(refreshing) street.  The information sign standing here is explains why this area is called Shirako-cho.  In 1582, when lord Nobunaga Oda was assassinated by his vassal, Mitsuhide Akechi, lord Ieyasu Tokugawa was traveling in the south of Kyoto. When he heard this news, he fled to Shiroko(Not Shirako), ...

Kusatsu is another unofficial inn town of San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido highway.  While the city center of Hiroshima is as completely wiped out by the atomic bomb, most part of Kusatsu survived with minor to moderate damages. This is the reason why we still see some of pre-WWII buildings. Of course, modernization has significantly changed its scene.   According to a local guide map, the inn town seems to start here. Saginomori shrine on the right side, was allegedly established in 904. The main building survived atomic bomb blast, according to Hiroshima city.  This temple, Jikouji temple, was established in 1447. The Sanmon gate survived atomic bomb blast.  Although Kusatsu inn town survived WWII, there are very few of pre-WWII buildings. This is Koizumi family residence. Probably this is the main attraction of Kusatsu unofficial inn town. It was build in late Edo period, and has been still in use as a sake brewery. Meiji emperor stopped by.  Across Koizumi family resi...