Minakuchi-juku
Minakuchi-juku | |||||
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post station | |||||
General information | |||||
Location | Kōka, Shiga (former Ōmi Province) Japan | ||||
Coordinates | 34°57′57.73″N 136°10′55.23″E / 34.9660361°N 136.1820083°E | ||||
Elevation | 182 meters | ||||
Line(s) | Tōkaidō | ||||
Distance | 443.8 km from Edo | ||||
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Minakuchi-juku (
History
[edit]Minakuchi-juku developed as early as the Muromachi period, as its location was convenient for travelers going to the Ise Grand Shrine and Ise Bay. In the early Edo period, the system of post stations on the Tōkaidō was formalized by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1601, Minakuchi-juku became an official post station. It was on the sankin-kōtai route by many western daimyō to-and-from the Shogun's court in Edo. Minakuchi Castle was constructed in 1634 on the western border of the town by Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu as a way station where he could stay at during his travels between Edo and Kyoto.[1] It was built in a similar fashion to Nijō Castle.[2] Minakuchi was thus both a post station and a castle town, In 1682, Minakuchi Domain was created with a cadet branch of the Katō clan ruling until the Meiji restoration.
Per the 1843 "
Minakuchi was noted for three famous local products. Minakuchi-zaiku (
Minakuchi-juku in The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō
[edit]Utagawa Hiroshige's ukiyo-e Hōeidō edition print of Minakuchi-juku dates from 1833 -1834. The print depicts a straggling row of thatch-roofed structures. In the foreground are two women (one with a baby on her back) hanging up strips of kanpyō to dry on lines, while a third woman with a knife is peeling more from a calabash. More strips of drying kanpyō are shown on the fences of the buildings in the background. A solitary traveller is walking away from the viewer on the road.
Neighboring post towns
[edit]- Tōkaidō
- Tsuchiyama-juku - Minakuchi-juku - Ishibe-juku
References
[edit]- Berna, Cristina (2020). Hokusai 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō 1805-1806. Missys Clan. ISBN 1649454767.
- Yagi, Makio (2019).
新版 ちゃんと歩 ける東海道 五 十 三 次 西 見付 宿 ~京 三条 大橋 +佐屋 街道 .山 と渓谷社 . ISBN 4635600874.(in Japanese) - Sasaki, Moritoshi (2010).
歌川 広重 保永 堂 版 東海道 五拾 三 次 (謎 解 き浮世絵 叢書 ). Nigensha. ISBN 4544212014.(in Japanese)
External links
[edit]Media related to Minakuchi-juku at Wikimedia Commons
- THE WOODBLOCK PRINTS OF UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE The Great Tōkaidō
- Shiga-Biwako Visitors Guide (in Japanese)
- Koka City home page (in Japanese)