Honjin (本陣) is the Japanese word for an inn for government officials, generally located in post stations ( shukuba ) during the later part of the Edo period.
Originally, honjin were places from which generals directed battles and, therefore, were fleeting in nature. However, as commanders began to transform the honjin into temporary lodgings during battle and travel, honjin came to be places where daimyō and other representatives of the shogunate, including hatamoto , monzeki , etc., were allowed to stay during their travels. Many of the honjin were actually personal residences of village and town leaders. As such, they received official designations from the government and expanded their residences to include walls, gates and other features. Because of their cooperation, the owners of the honjin also gained various special rights. General travelers, regardless of status or money, were not able to stay at honjin.
Waki-honjin (脇本陣), also referred to as "sub-honjin," are similar in structure and operation to, but generally smaller than, honjin. The rules of operation were also slightly different. When two official traveling parties are staying in the same post station, the more powerful of the two stayed in the main honjin. The major difference, though, is that general travelers were able to stay at the waki-honjin, if they had enough status or money.
The honjin or waki-honjin of the following post stations have either been preserved or restored and are now open to be viewed by the public:
Other Routes:
The Nakasendō, also called the Kisokaidō (木曾街道), was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo to Kyoto in Japan. There were 69 stations (staging-posts) between Edo and Kyoto, crossing through Musashi, Kōzuke, Shinano, Mino and Ōmi provinces. In addition to Tokyo and Kyoto, the Nakasendō runs through the modern-day prefectures of Saitama, Gunma, Nagano, Gifu and Shiga, with a total distance of about 534 km (332 mi).
The Five Routes, sometimes translated as "Five Highways", were the five centrally administered routes, or kaidō, that connected the de facto capital of Japan at Edo with the outer provinces during the Edo period (1603–1868). The most important of the routes was the Tōkaidō, which linked Edo and Kyoto. Tokugawa Ieyasu started the construction of these five routes to increase his control over the country in 1601, but it was Tokugawa Ietsuna, the 4th shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate and Ieyasu's great-grandson, who declared them as major routes. Post stations were set up along the route for travelers to rest and buy supplies. The routes thrived due to the policy of sankin-kōtai, that required the daimyō to travel in alternate years along the routes to Edo.
The 69 Stations of the Nakasendō are the rest areas along the Nakasendō, which ran from Nihonbashi in Edo to Sanjō Ōhashi in Kyoto. The route stretched approximately 534 km (332 mi) and was an alternate trade route to the Tōkaidō.
Unuma-juku was the fifty-second of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the city of Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
Ōta-juku was the fifty-first of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the city of Minokamo, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.
Ageo-shuku was the fifth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day city of Ageo, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Shiojiri-shuku was the thirtieth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the central part of the present-day city of Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Shimosuwa-shuku was the twenty-ninth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō, as well as being the ending location of the Kōshū Kaidō. It is located in the present-day town of Shimosuwa, Suwa District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Kusatsu-juku was the fifty-second of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō as well as the sixty-eighth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the downtown area of the present-day city of Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Moriyama-juku (守山宿) was the sixty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It was located in the present-day city of Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Fukushima-juku was the thirty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day city of Kiso, in the Kiso District of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. It was also numbered as the fifth of eleven stations on the Kisoji highway.
Wada-shuku was the twenty-eighth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day town of Nagawa, in the Chiisagata District of Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
Nagakubo-shuku was the twenty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It is located in the present-day town of Nagawa, in the Chiisagata District of Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
The Hokkoku Kaidō was a highway in Japan during the Edo period. It was a secondary route, ranked below the Edo Five Routes in importance. Because it was developed for travelers going to Zenkō-ji, it was also called Zenkō-ji Kaidō (善光寺街道). It stretched from the Nakasendō's Oiwake-juku to the Hokurikudō's Takada-shuku. Nowadays, the route is traced by Route 18, stretching between the town of Karuizawa and the city of Jōetsu.
Okegawa-shuku was the sixth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day city of Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Kōnosu-shuku was the seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day city of Kōnosu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
Ai no Shuku were unofficial post stations along historical routes in Japan. These post stations formed organically along routes when the distance between two places was too far or when there were difficult passes nearby. Because they were not officially designated rest areas, travelers along the roads were not allowed to stay in these post stations. Sometimes the Japanese is shortened to 間宿.
The Kōshū Kaidō (甲州街道) was one of the five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect Edo with Kai Province in modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The route continues from there to connect with the Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku in Nagano Prefecture. Many feudal lords from Shinano Province made use of the road during sankin-kōtai, including those from the Takatō, Suwa and Iida domains.
Shukuba (宿場) were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called shuku-eki (宿駅). These post stations were places where travelers could rest on their journey around the nation. They were created based on policies for the transportation of goods by horseback that were developed during the Nara and Heian periods.
The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō or Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Road, is a series of ukiyo-e works created by Utagawa Hiroshige and Keisai Eisen. There are 71 total prints in the series.