府中宿(Fuchu inn town/castle town) part 1: the last place of Ieyasu Tokugawa

Downtown Shizuoka city, including where 府中宿(Fuchu inn town) was located, was severely damaged many times by earthquakes, and most recently by air raids during WWII. So this part of Tokaido trail is all about finding a little bits of what are hints of the trail now. Today downtown Shizuoka city is very stylish but does not have fast-paced life like Tokyo or Osaka.

Here is the overview part one. 

Edo-side guard gate used to be around this pedestrian bridge. 

Fuchu means administrative center of a local government. Before Shizuoka city was named as Shizuoka, this place was called either Fuchu or 駿府(Sunpu: the capital of Suruga). My mother’s side of relatives come from western Shizuoka prefecture, and they still call this city as “Sunpu”. 

This area is 伝馬町(Tenmacho). Tenma is a system of logistics, transportation and communication designed for clan leaders. And 町(cho, or machi) means a town. Throughout Japan, it is common to see the name of a town “Tenmacho”, which indicates that there was a terminal for cargo, transportation and  postal services for clan leaders. 

The big street on the right side of the map, is also important. 久能街道(Kuno Kaido) splits off south from here. This route goes southeastward near Mt.Kuno where Ieyasu Tokugawa was initially buried. Then goes northward to Ejiri inn town.(Remember Ejiri has the beginning of Kuno Kaido? Check out my previous article)

Plus, people transported sea salt which was harvested on the coast in front of Mt.Kuno. So this is one of the salt roads of Japan. Well, salt roads were everywhere to be honest. 

This monument is to show the entrance to 門前町(Monzenmachi) to 華陽院(Keyoin temple). Monzen means “in front of the gate”. So this is the gateway to Keyoin temple which is located north of the monument. See the next picture. 

The circle on upper left is Keyoin. What is significant in this temple is that Ieyasu Tokugawa’s concubine, Lady Hisa, was buried.(note that Ieyasu Tokugawa, who established Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, had 20 concubines)And his fifth daughter, princess Ichi was buried here. So Keyoin was one of pilgrimage sites in this area. 

Fuchu had 2 honjin and 2 wakihonjin. Shimotenma honjin and wakihonjin used to be at the circle I made. Today, this area has a lot of shops and restaurants like Ginza in Tokyo.  

Kamitenma honjin and wakihonjin inns have become a famous duty-free shop Don Quixote and food court today. 

At Egawacho intersection, Tokaido route takes sharp left down southwestward. Sunpu castle outer moat is just two blocks north. 

Covering Fuchu is not enough with one article. We are going to touch west side of Fuchu inn town/castle town on the next article. 

The access to east side of Fuchu inn town has several ways. JR Shizuoka station is the terminal for most of us coming from outside Shizuoka city. Then depending on where you want to start the trail depends on which station of Shizuoka railways or Shizutetsu bus you are going to use: Kasugacho is convenient if you want to start the trail from Edogata-mitsuke. Otowacho is convenient if you want to add Kiyomizuyama hike to overview the city. and Hiyoshicho is right next to Keyoin. 

References: 

Bombing of Shizuoka in World War II. Wikipedia.com. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Shizuoka_in_World_War_II (Accessed in 6/3/2025)

Ieyasu Tokugawa. Wikipedia.com. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokugawa_Ieyasu (Accessed in 6/3/2025)

Fuchu-shuku. Shizuoka Tourism, Exchange and Cultural Bureau, Tourism and MICE Promotion Division. Shizuoka City. https://shizuoka.tokaido-guide.jp/shukuba/6?locale=en (Accessed in 6/3/2025)

Shizuoka cultural information Machikado Volume 31. Shizuoka City Cultural Promotion Foundation.(The original title:静岡文化情報まちかど Vol.31 静岡市文化振興財団) https://www.scpf.shizuoka-city.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2ff6d850b308c72abed119d87d30aa19.pdf (Accessed in 6/3/2025. In Japanese)

Stroll map(of Tokaido). AMZ Environmental Design Research Office Ltd. http://shizuoka-tokaido.biz/en/map/index.html (Accessed in 6/1/2025. Check out Fuchu map)