興津宿(Okitsu inn town): Trains going through a temple

Here is Okitsu inn town overview. It’s the edge of Shimizu port. Ejiri inn town is only an hour walk. 

Right before entering the inn town, there is a monument to show that 身延道(Minobudo) highway starts here. Minobudo connects this area with Minobu, which has Kuonji temple for pilgrimage. 
And here is the monument of Ichirizuka distance marker. Here you can only see 
National R-1 goes through Okitsu inn town. Most part of Kambara and Yui inn towns somehow keep the width of an original Kaido road. But R-1 in Okitsu have been widened up in order for two cars to be able to pass by each other. So, at least one side of houses must have been moved. 
Keep going…
Okitsu inn town is another one that has a lot of old houses. Most likely these are not Edo-time ones. 
This is Rigenji temple of Nichiren sect Buddhism. According to its website, the temple was established in the end of 16th century - early 17th century. 
The house with white sign is a tatami mattress shop. 
Okitsu inn town Ichikawa honjin inn(or the east honjin) used to be here. 
Minaguchiya Wakihonjin inn used to be here.I couldn’t figure out when the current building was built. The very first owner of this place was a vassal of lord Shingen Takeda in late 16th century. Right after WWII, the General Headquarters(GHQ) seized this property. When an American author Oliver Statler visited Minaguchiya and wrote a book, “Japanese Inn”, Minaguchiya became popular among internationals. 
This is a monument of Nishi-honjin(West honjin), Tezuka honjin inn site. 
The route is taking slight right curve.
This sign has more info about Okitsu inn town. 
The red circle is Seikeiji temple, which is really an ancient one. You need to cross JR Tokaido line to get to the temple. Originally there was a checkpoint in 7th century, to block Emishi tribe(tribes that did not surrender the imperial regime). Ieyasu Tokugawa spent some time in his childhood here. 
This is a monument to say that the Emperor Taisho enjoyed swimming on the beach just a step off from here in the early 20th century. 

There are other points that are historically important. Okitsu has a lot of interesting stories. 

Take JR Tokaido line local and get off at Okitsu station. 






References: 

A Personal Tribute to Oliver Statler. Michael Cooper. University of Hawaii at Manoa. https://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/japan/special/statler/essays/cooper.htm (Accessed in 5/24/2025)

Okitsu-shuku. Shizuoka Tourism, Exchange and Cultural Bureau, Tourism and MICE Promotion Division. Shizuoka City. https://shizuoka.tokaido-guide.jp/shukuba/4?locale=en (Accessed in 5/24/2025)

Okitsu-shuku. Sunshu Travel Japan Heritage Council Promotion Secretariat. https://www.tokaido-sunshu.jp/en/spots/4.html (Accessed in 5/24/2025)

Seikenji Official Homepage. https://seikenji.com/history.html (Accessed in 5/24/2025)









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

山陽道/西国街道(San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido overview)

Image
While we are still working on Tokaido chapter, I decided to start working on San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido chapter.  What were routes covering west of Tokaido prior to modern-day Japan? Which was the popular route in west Japan that people used in order to go east?  Today JR Tokaido line officially goes down to JR Kobe station in Kobe city, and Tokaido Shinkansen goes down to Shin-Osaka station. Beyond these stations, you will notice that these train line names are changed: JR San’yo line from Kobe station, and San’yo Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka station.  Old San’yodo(旧山陽道) starts at Kyoto, and goes through north shore of the river Yodo, bypassing modern-day downtown Osaka, then through Kobe, Himeji, Okayama, Hiroshima, and to Shimonoseki, with the 577km length in total. This route is actually longer than old Tokaido or old Nakasendo. Until the administrative capital was moved from Kyoto to Edo(modern-day Tokyo), San’yodo was regarded as more prestigious than Tokaido and Nakasend...
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

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