The beginning of San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido: Toji temple, Kyoto(京)

San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido begins at Toji(東寺) temple, Kyoto. 

This time, I am showing you a bit about Saigoku Kaido route itself according to Google map because it is not a famous route. 

This is Toji South Gate. And The route goes westward. Toji itself is a famous temple in Kyoto, established in 796. It is a World Heritage, and this is a part of south edge of Heiankyo old capital city. 

National R-1 in front of Toji is where Suzaku-Oji Avenue, the south edge of Haiankyo old capital used to be. R-1 goes south at the southwest corner of Toji, eventually joining Kyo-Kaido, or known as the extension of old Tokaido. 



Shortly you will see Rajomon gate ruin.(The picture above) You will have to take a step off from the Main Street in order to see the monument of the ruins. Rajomon is also called Rashomon, or Raseimon. It was built in 789. 

Saigoku Kaido continues on westward and bear left at Kujo-Onmae intersection. 








Google map shows Saigoku Kaido clearly on this section. 

Kisshoin intersection is slightly tricky, so I put yellow arrow to show the route. But still, Google map continues to show Saigoku Kaido route clearly all the way to JR Higashi-Muko station. 






The access to Toji temple is close from Kintetsu Kyoto line Toji station, but there are tons of buses from JR Kyoto station as well. And it’s just about 15 minutes walk from JR Kyoto station Hachijoguchi gate. 


Reference: 

Relishing Kaido map Nagaokakyo city to Kyoto city. Relishing Kaido Promotional Council.(original title: 歴史街道　街道マップ　京都府長岡京市〜京都市　歴史街道推進協議会)

https://www.rekishikaido.gr.jp/download/kaido/saigoku/saigoku_8.pdf (Accessed in 3/21/2025)

Rajomon. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj%C5%8Dmon (Accessed in 3/21/2025)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Off the beaten paths in Japan: how I find these places

  I created this blog, hoping to build a bridge between Japan and others, Japanese and other people, whether travel or work or study.  I have read and seen blogs and videos of the same topic. So I have to creative, because otherwise it will be one of these blogs. And it can be very boring.  For those who don’t know me, I am Japanese, born and grew up in central Japan, living in northeastern USA. My wife is an American. And I am a nurse in Japan and the US.(I guess there aren’t many Japanese male nurses working outside Japan). We have 2 kids. We are homeschooling.  I have weird academic degrees: associate degree in nursing, bachelor in German, master in cross-cultural education.  And my tendency is that, when everybody goes on one direction, I go to the other direction.  Anyhow, from these background, I am figuring out what I can do and what I can offer.  I consider the foundation of my Japan travel is central Japan, specifically Aichi, Gifu, Mie, south...
Read more

Introducing old road network:KAIDO

Before traveling to Japan, it’s always good to do research about destination. Good research is the foundation of your enriched travel. However, for those who have never been to Japan, there is always the question of “Where do we start?”.  This is one of the tools I am giving you. One of things I often look for is the signs of 街道(Kaidō).  Kaidō is old highways and routes that have been used for centuries. Kaidō used to be all over, from Edo(modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto(Tokaido and Nakasendo), to Shomosuwa(Kōshū Kaidō), to Nikko(Nikko Kaidō), to Shirakawa(modern-day Shirakawa city of Fukushima prefecture: Oshu Kaidō), and so on. These first five routes I mentioned are called Edo Five Routes, aka 五街道(Gokaido). These were officially maintained by Edo shogunate during Edo Period(1603-1868).  Here is an example of Kaido route. These bypass following link shows the route of Tokaido highway.  https://www.hiroshige.org.uk/Tokaido_Versions/Tokaido_Versions.htm  (Quoted from...
Read more

Starting the Kaido 101: Tokaido/Nakasendo-Nihonbashi(日本橋)

Image
 I wonder how many of my readers thought how long this guy’s lecture will continue.  As a visual learner, I would prefer to get the basic quickly, then as I practice, I want to go in depth.  One of the most popular trails of Kaidos is probably Tokaido. Some might say Nakasendo is arguably the best. But historically Tokaido has been a top traffic route, probably “the busiest” one. It is hard to figure out data of Edo period. One research shows that 40,000-260,000 people used parts of Tokaido, while  most parts of Nakasendo hardly reached more than 50,000 travelers. (Resource: “Main routes traffic amount n Edo period” by Ryoichi Tsuchida. 1982. 土田良一著「江戸時代における街道交通量」歴史地理学通号117  歴史地理学会編　1982年6月発行   http://hist-geo.jp/img/archive/117_028.pdf ) Today, “Tokaido” Shinkansen is often referred to as “The Aorta of Japan.  The Tokaido route consists of 53 stations(inn towns), from Edo(Tokyo) to Kyoto. Some would add 4 more stations(inn towns between Kyoto and Osaka...
Read more