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

Katashima inn town is one of those that only history geeks will stop by. And Katashima shared a lot with Shojo inn town, located in about 2km eastward.  When it comes to Katashima inn town, the only online resources I found were Tatsuno city website and a few including Wikipedia.  All of them say that Shojo inn town took care of travelers going eastward, and Katashima for those traveling westward. So together with Shojo inn town, Katashima was a very busy inn town.  I could not find out what this monument was. It appears to honor a local leader of Hirata. 頌徳碑(Shotokuhi) is a monument to honor a person who achieved something for and/or contributed to a local community.  And there is a jizo statue next to it.  Probably this part used to be busy during Edo period.  There is Ryofukuji temple behind these two houses. There are very few online data about this temple. In lesser-known old routes, this is common that you won’t get good info until you get there physi...

We’ve been tackling with inn towns that we’ve either rarely or never heard of. Shojo in Tatsuno city is another one. Tatsuno is known for its castle town, which is one of Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Some of these examples are Takayama Sannomachi, Shirakawago, and Kurashiki Bikan district.  However, Shojo inn town is way off south from Tatsuno castle town. Let’s find out what’s in from the overview.  Until late 1800s, Ibo river(the river on the right side of the map) only had boat ride service, which was a part of Saigoku Kaido route.  This is west side of the boat ride pier.  On the picture, you see a guardrail on the dike. This guardrail has an interesting structure. When the river water level rises up, you can slide tatami mattress from your home between the posts, in order to prevent flooding. This structure is relatively new, within the recent 100 years or so. Shojo is one of three places in Japan where you see this struc...

All Japanese kids learn something about price Shotoku aka prince Umayado.(593-622) He loved Buddhism so much that he founded Horyuji temple in Nara prefecture in 607. But I didn’t realize that he received a property of this area from emperor Jitoh. And he established a temple here.  Some people say that prince Umayado has similar stories as Jesus Christ. Well, both were born in a horse barn. For me, this is “So what?”.  Here is the overview of Ikaruga inn town located in Taishi town.  Saigoku Kaido goes off from national R-179 here.  In terms of scene, there aren’t many old houses and buildings. Ikaruga inn town started as an unofficial inn town, according to some sources. Taishi municipal historical museum has some exhibitions and resources about San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido Ikaruga inn town. Unfortunately the museum is closed for renewal until March 2027.  Some old houses are there. But I can’t tell if these are of Meiji or Edo or even newer.  Passing by a bicy...

In Himeji inn town part 1, we touched the eastern part of Himeji castle town. And we encountered the wonder of two Saigoku Kaido routes.  Let’s get on the street. Here is the overview of central-western part of Himeji inn town/castle town.  This is the north route of Saigoku Kaido.  Close to the central area with arcade street. The north route of Saigoku Kaido goes straight then turns right.  South route, on the other hand, goes completely under the arcades.  The south route is now Nikaimachi business street. Nikaimachi, which literally means, “the town of two-story houses”. In castle towns, only building flat houses were allowed during Edo period. However, this Nikaimachi was an exception. This street became more popular than the primary route of Saigoku Kaido which is the north route. Eventually the south route was recognized as Saigoku Kaido.  The original Saigoku Kaido. There is a sign that explains that many people went down south then westward to Nika...

Most travelers who visited Japan either have heard about or know Himeji. Himeji castle is unbeatably one of top destinations for travelers to Japan.  Himeji was a big castle town. I will have to divide Himeji into part 1 and 2. You can see how big Himeji was from old maps. I will post a link of Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History for old Himeji maps on reference section.  Also, on this blog, the main purpose is to introduce inn towns of old routes of Japan. So I am not going to touch details of Himeji castle town, which takes another 5-10 episodes or more. Please refer to Himeji city guidebooks and other tourist websites for more details.  Here is the overview part one.  This area is called 京口町(Kyoguchimachi). kyoguchi means Kyoto-side of entrance. So you can guess that there was a gate, and it was on Kyoto-side. So this was the eastern edge of Himeji castle town. On the map, you can see a canal straight from north to south. This is the outer moat of Himeji castle....

 I had no idea about what’s in Gochaku until I found out that this area was governed by Kodera clan during battlefield era(late 15th - 16th centuries). And the most famous figure in this area spend his youth in Gochaku. He was one of lord Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s strategists, as well as a distinct Christian samurai: Yoshitaka “Don Simeon” Kuroda, aka Kanbei Kuroda.  Anyway, let’s check out the overview map of Gochaku inn town. JR Gochaku station is on the west side of Gochaku inn town, about 9-10 minutes walk.   This part of Saigoku Kaido is probably not a part of the inn town, but the street already creates the atmosphere of an old route.  There is an altar on the ground called Sainokami. I could not find any info online.  This is the entrance of Fukujoji temple. I looked up in Japanese and English, only to find out there is no data. It means, I should visit some day.  Old houses continue. One of blogs said that some of these houses are registered as Himeji ci...