金谷宿(Kanaya inn town): the other side of Oi River, where vintage steam engines still run

Kanaya inn town, on the west riverside of Oi River, has the same role in Tokaido as Shimada inn town. But for most people, vintage steam engine ride of Oigawa Railways sounds more familiar. 

I haven’t talked much about names of old countries of Japan, which is somewhat similar to prefecture system. But prior to 1868, these countries had more power, and Tokugawa central government was even more powerful. 

And Kanaya was the country of 遠江(Totomi), and Shimada was the country of 駿河(Suruga). 

Comparing to Shimada inn town Oigawa crossing ruins, Kanaya part does not appear to have much to see. Let’s find out. 

West shore of port used to be around here. The sign shows there used to have the same facilities as east side of the river. For more details, check out my previous page. 

On the left, according to Google reviews, there is a cafe of 110-year-old house. 110 years old means it was built in around 1915…might not have anything to do with old Tokaido time. 

Akiha shrine. Akiha shrine worships the god who protects people from fire. Its grand head shrine is located in northern Hamamatsu city, in the midst of mountain by Mt.Akiha. From here, it is roughly 2-3 hours by car westwards. Akiha shrine was established nearly everywhere to wish for protection from fire. We might have passed by many Akiha shrine by now as well. 

Crossing the railroad of Oigawa Railways. You could see vintage steam engine expresses passing by. Oigawa Railways Shin-Kanaya station is only a block away from here. 

From the riverbank to the west side of the inn town, it is a long uphill throughout the inn town and beyond. 

Crossing Daidai bridge over Ojiro River. 

Kanaya itself is not a typical tourist town. You can see people’s life here. 

Crossing over Shimizubashi bridge. There is a little shrine that I can’t figure out about. 

Akiha shrine altar. As mentioned in other articles, Akiha(or Akiba) is the guardian god from the fire. People prayed for protection from fire because houses and buildings of an inn town are all made of woods basically. 

Names of this area are interesting. This section is called 金谷上十五軒(Kanaya-Kamijugoken: meaning Fifteen Houses of Kanaya on Kyoto side), and right before this image, toward Edo/Tokyo side, is called 金谷下十五軒(Kanaya-Shimojugoken: meaning the Fifteen Houses of Kanaya on Edo side). Literally, the number of houses have been incorporated into areas’ names. 

I could not confirm if this has to do with old Tokaido inn town culture or not. According to Wikipedia, these names came up quite recently. 

From this section, there will be a bunch of information boards regarding the inn town buildings. 

Katana had three honjin VIP inns: Yamada-ya, Sazuka-ya and Kashiwa-ya. The first one from Edo side is Yamasa-ya honjin. 

The second one from Edo side is Sazuka-ya Honjin. Today, on the same location, Sazuka Shoten bookstore is standing, assuming that the owner of the bookstore has to do with Sazuka-ya Honjin inn back in Edo time. 

Where Kashiwa-ya Honjin inn was located is today’s Japan Agricultural Cooperatives Oigawa Kanaya branch office and a community center. 

This is where Kadoya Wakihonjin inn used to be. In Wikipedia and some other sources, wakihonjin is translated as sub-honjin. But here I am going by wakihonjin. 

Thus is where 定飛脚問屋(johikyaku toiya) used to be. A “Johikyaku” was a private courier service operating between Edo and Osaka. Since it ran three times a month, it was also known as the “Sando-ya” (Three-Times House).

There was also a special express service that covered the Edo-Osaka route in six days or less.

They are equivalent to today’s postal service. 

According to Google map, Tokaido goes under JR Tokaido line. Most likely, it did not turn 90 degrees left, but I could not tell from the old map which I found online. On the left side of the street view(blue circle), there is a map of Kanaya inn town, from an old map. 

There was a ichiruzuka mileage marker around another blue circle on the right side of the street view.

If you continue walking straight instead of turning left, JR/Oigawa Railways Kanaya station main entrance is coming up.  

 

On the left side outside this street view, there is Chokoji temple with very little info online. Apparently there is a monument of Basho’s poem that says, 

道のべの木槿は馬にくはれけり

I see beautiful Mukuge hibiscus flowers, but one of them is swiftly gone.

My horse must have eaten it. 

(Translated by me)

We don’t know if he wrote this poem here. But he wrote this somewhere between Shimada and Kanaya. 

According to Tokaido map(see the reference section), this is the end of Kanaya inn town, where Kyoto-side of gate used to be. 

Further up, there is a preserved paved old Tokaido(Kanayazaka cobblestones). 

If you want to get to the riverbank, take Oigawa railways to Shin-Kanaya station. Otherwise JR Cental and Oigawa railways Kanaya station is close to west side of the inn town. Steam engine ride starts at Kanaya, and ends in Ieyama station currently, due to infrastructural damages of railways further up north of the line. The lineups are JNR C-10, JNR C-11, JNR C-12 and JNR C-56.(JNR=Japan National Railways, that existed prior to 1987) C-12 and C-56 have been in maintenance repair and are currently not in service. 

The next stop is Kikugawa unofficial inn town. It’ll be a quick stop. 

References: 

Basho’s Haiku Monument by the Road. Shimada City. https://www.city.shimada.shizuoka.jp/kanko-docs/basyououmitinobe.html (Accessed in 3/25/2026)

Kanaya-Juku. Wikipedia.com. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanaya-juku (Accessed in 3/24/2026)

Nozarashi Kikou Oigawa. Yamanashi Prefectural University.(In Japanese: 野ざらし紀行大井川　山梨県立大学) https://www2.yamanashi-ken.ac.jp/~itoyo/basho/nozarasi/nozara04.htm (In Japanese only. Accessed in 3/25/2026)

Stroll map(of Tokaido). AMZ Environment Design Research Office Ltd.  http://shizuoka-tokaido.biz/en/map/index.html (Accessed in 3/23/2026)

Why Did “Hikyaky Courier Service” Emerge in Kansai Region? The Impact of a Nationwide Transportation Network Originating in Kyoto and Osaka! The Structure of Logistics and Corruption Centered on Edo [Series] Through the Lens of Edo Mobility (26) Akira Kobayashi. Merkmal(the title translated by this writer: なぜ「飛脚問屋」は上方で生まれた？京都・大坂発、全国輸送網の衝撃！江戸を動脈とした物流と不正の構造とは　【連載】江戸モビリティーズのまなざし(26) 小林明　Merkmal(メルクマール) 2025/4/20) https://merkmal-biz.jp/post/91276 (In Japanese only. Accessed in 3/25/2026)

Note that AI assistance has been used for some of translations on reference sections, and I proof read them.