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

We are continuing on San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido inn towns with very little online information. And here we are at the last inn town of Hyogo prefecture, Une(pronounced as “Oo-neh” inn town.  Near this area, medieval and ancient San’yodo were made further north. So Une inn town was established presumably in 1600s.  Without solid resources, it is difficult to figure out where the east edge of Une inn town was. I am simply assuming that right after the bridge over Chikusa river was the east end of the inn town.  At its peak, Une had nearly 100 establishments including honjin inn, wakihonjin inn, hatago business hotels etc.  This sign says there used to be Une village administration office.  According to Wikipedia, Une village was merged with Ako city in 1955.  Une honjin VIP inn site is coming up. For me, the shape of veggie field just beneath the red circle I made looks like where a big mansion or major structures of honjin used to be. I would love to visit a loc...

Katashima inn town is one of those that only history geeks will stop by. And Katashima shared a lot with Shojo inn town, located in about 2km eastward.  When it comes to Katashima inn town, the only online resources I found were Tatsuno city website and a few including Wikipedia.  All of them say that Shojo inn town took care of travelers going eastward, and Katashima for those traveling westward. So together with Shojo inn town, Katashima was a very busy inn town.  I could not find out what this monument was. It appears to honor a local leader of Hirata. 頌徳碑(Shotokuhi) is a monument to honor a person who achieved something for and/or contributed to a local community.  And there is a jizo statue next to it.  Probably this part used to be busy during Edo period.  There is Ryofukuji temple behind these two houses. There are very few online data about this temple. In lesser-known old routes, this is common that you won’t get good info until you get there physi...

We’ve been tackling with inn towns that we’ve either rarely or never heard of. Shojo in Tatsuno city is another one. Tatsuno is known for its castle town, which is one of Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings. Some of these examples are Takayama Sannomachi, Shirakawago, and Kurashiki Bikan district.  However, Shojo inn town is way off south from Tatsuno castle town. Let’s find out what’s in from the overview.  Until late 1800s, Ibo river(the river on the right side of the map) only had boat ride service, which was a part of Saigoku Kaido route.  This is west side of the boat ride pier.  On the picture, you see a guardrail on the dike. This guardrail has an interesting structure. When the river water level rises up, you can slide tatami mattress from your home between the posts, in order to prevent flooding. This structure is relatively new, within the recent 100 years or so. Shojo is one of three places in Japan where you see this struc...

All Japanese kids learn something about price Shotoku aka prince Umayado.(593-622) He loved Buddhism so much that he founded Horyuji temple in Nara prefecture in 607. But I didn’t realize that he received a property of this area from emperor Jitoh. And he established a temple here.  Some people say that prince Umayado has similar stories as Jesus Christ. Well, both were born in a horse barn. For me, this is “So what?”.  Here is the overview of Ikaruga inn town located in Taishi town.  Saigoku Kaido goes off from national R-179 here.  In terms of scene, there aren’t many old houses and buildings. Ikaruga inn town started as an unofficial inn town, according to some sources. Taishi municipal historical museum has some exhibitions and resources about San’yodo/Saigoku Kaido Ikaruga inn town. Unfortunately the museum is closed for renewal until March 2027.  Some old houses are there. But I can’t tell if these are of Meiji or Edo or even newer.  Passing by a bicy...

In Himeji inn town part 1, we touched the eastern part of Himeji castle town. And we encountered the wonder of two Saigoku Kaido routes.  Let’s get on the street. Here is the overview of central-western part of Himeji inn town/castle town.  This is the north route of Saigoku Kaido.  Close to the central area with arcade street. The north route of Saigoku Kaido goes straight then turns right.  South route, on the other hand, goes completely under the arcades.  The south route is now Nikaimachi business street. Nikaimachi, which literally means, “the town of two-story houses”. In castle towns, only building flat houses were allowed during Edo period. However, this Nikaimachi was an exception. This street became more popular than the primary route of Saigoku Kaido which is the north route. Eventually the south route was recognized as Saigoku Kaido.  The original Saigoku Kaido. There is a sign that explains that many people went down south then westward to Nika...