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

四日市宿(Yokkaichi inn town) should not be confused with Yokkaichi city in Mie prefecture. Yokkaichi means “the fourth-day market”, literally there used to be a market in the fourth day of the month. However, for many, this town has been known as 西条(Saijo). Saijo has the nickname as “the Sake capital”. In fact, Saijo is referred to as one of three great places of sake brewing, along with Nada(Kobe) and Fushimi(Kyoto).  A local magazine posted a map of Yokkaichi inn town recently, which made me easier to spot the beginning and the end of the inn town. So let’s find out!  The inn town begins with the small brook called Furukawa river. It will be more clear on the next picture.  Furukawa runs from north to south here. According to Google map, some parts of the river are covered with concrete. In other parts, it is very hard to find out if it’s a river or a gutter. But this is officially the beginning of the inn town.  On the street view, both sides of the buildings are of K...

本郷宿(Hongo inn town) is located on the western edge of Mihara city. Let’s see what’s in there.  Before entering the inn town, there is a sign that says “Mitachi castle ruins”. This is a medieval castle ruins but apparently bloggers have been reporting that the more than half of castle ruins have been converted to a cemetery, and there is little to see.  For a while, you don’t see anything notable that points out about San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido route.  Passing by Sainenji temple, a Jodo-shinshu Buddhism temple. I could not find good info about its history online.  On the other side of Sainenji temple, there is Shimoichi jizo. On Google map review, one of comments said that this jizo statue was built in memory of Tenpo famine from 1833 to 1837.  After passing by Hiroshima prefectural R-193, you will finally see bits of what old Hongo inn town used to look like.  There is a sign of Saigoku Kaido. You are on the right track.  More old houses… I assume this is ...

Thank you so much for your patience! It’s been quite busy days as my father-in-law went with the Lord last month.  I am getting back to my routine. It means that there is going to be delay from my original plan.  Mihara inn town can be divided into part 1 and 2, but I would like to hurry up to complete San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido route as I expect a few more places that need to be divided into two parts. And to be honest, Mihara is not a typical destination of tourism.  Without further ado, let’s see what’s in Mihara.  According to several blogs and resources, Mihara inn town is based upon the castle town of Mihara. The east side of the gate to the castle town was around here.  We are going on Asahimachi street. There are some old houses.  There is a small shrine, Ebisu shrine, that we pass by.  Then here comes Shinmei honden shrine on the right. Shinmei is another name of Amaterasu, sun goddess that is known as the god of Ise shrine in Mie prefecture. In e...