大蔵谷宿(Okuradani inn town): Akashi castle town with the Prime meridian of Japan

 As far as my online research went, there are very few resources about Okuradani Saigoku Kaido inn town. All I got was that Okuradani is on the east side of the extension of Akashi castle town. 

Where there is little data, I will just go explore what Google map and street view show. Here is the overview. 

The possible entrance to Okuradani inn town is right after bearing right from Kobe/Kyoto side. There is Hachiman shrine on the right. 

Back to the eastern edge of the inn town, there are already old houses lining up on the street. 

Old house lineups are sporadic, and I can tell that this is not a typical tourist site. 

Some old houses have white walls sticking out from both edges of the house. These are called Udatsu. It’s Edo-tune fire prevention wall. 

I found a little Shinto shrine in front of someone’s house. I wonder why…

This house has Udatsu fire prevention wall. I circled red on the picture. 

You see more Udatsu. 

This structure seems to be preserving 桝形(Masugata) which indicates that this might have been one of either east or west side Mitsuke guard gates, or a structure to slow down enemies’ march. I could not tell by Google map which thus masugata is, as Akashi castle town goes further west and north. 

This monument explains that the meridian line of Japan goes through here. The planetarium-looking building bendy to the  monument is actually a local police station. 

Not too far from here, there is a planetarium on the Japanese prime  meridian. 

Old houses are still there. Old houses we’ve seen on the routes seem to be mostly merchants’ and normal people. 

As JR Akashi station is close, unfortunately old houses are fading away. 

Saigoku Kaido route at downtown Akashi. As you notice on the map, it is close to Akashi port, a fisherman’s port, and Akashi castle is just step off north of San’yo-Akashi station. 

San’yo railways Okuradani station as well as Hitomaru-Mae station are both close to Okuradani inn town. But San’yo-Akashi station is not too far as well. 

No reference was used other than Google map and Wikipedia in this time.