Kuragano-shuku

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Keisai Eisen's print of Kuragano-shuku, part of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido series Kisokaido12 Kuragano.jpg
Keisai Eisen's print of Kuragano-shuku, part of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō series

Kuragano-shuku(倉賀野宿,Kuragano-shuku) was the twelfth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

69 Stations of the Nakasendō

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.

Nakasendō

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).

Contents

History

Kuragano-shuku was an intersection between the Nakasendō and the Nikkō Reiheishi Kaidō. [1] Travelers coming from Kyoto would use this route to get to Nikkō. (If they were coming from Edo, they would have used the Nikkō Kaidō.) During the Edo period, it was a popular port for trader ships on the Karasu River. [2]

The Nikkō Reiheishi Kaidō (日光例幣使街道) was established during the Edo period as a subroute to Nikkō Kaidō. It connects the Nakasendō with the Nikkō Kaidō.

Kyoto Designated city in Kansai, Japan

Kyoto, officially Kyoto City, is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture, located in the Kansai region of Japan. It is best known in Japanese history for being the former Imperial capital of Japan for more than one thousand years, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area.

Nikkō, Tochigi City in Kantō, Japan

Nikkō is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. As of May 2015, the city had an estimated population of 84,197, and a population density of 58.1 persons per km2. Its total area is 1,449.83 km2. It is a popular destination for Japanese and international tourists. Attractions include the mausoleum of shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu and that of his grandson Iemitsu, and the Futarasan Shrine, which dates to the year 767. There are also many famous hot springs (onsen) in the area. Elevations range from 200 to 2,000 m. The Japanese saying "Never say 'kekkō' until you've seen Nikkō"—kekkō meaning beautiful, magnificent or "I am satisfied"—is a reflection of the beauty and sites in Nikkō.

Neighboring post towns

Nakasendō
Shinmachi-shuku - Kuragano-shuku - Takasaki-shuku
Nikkō Reiheishi Kaidō
Kuragano-shuku(starting location) - Tamamura-shuku

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Ageo-shuku

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

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.

Kumagai-shuku

Kumagai-shuku was the 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 city of Kuamagaya, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Nikkō Kaidō

The Nikkō Kaidō (日光街道) was one of the five routes of the Edo period and it was built to connect Edo with the Nikkō Tōshō-gū, which is located in the present-day city of Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 1617 by Tokugawa Ieyasu, in order for him to have a smoother route to the shrine. With only twenty-one stations, the Nikkō Kaidō was the shortest of the five routes, but it shares seventeen stations with the Ōshū Kaidō. Part of its route can be traced with Japan's Route 4.

Oiwake-shuku

Oiwake-shuku was the twentieth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day town of Karuizawa, in the Kitasaku District of Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Fukaya-shuku

Fukaya-shuku was the ninth 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 Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Honjō-shuku

Honjō-shuku was the tenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was the largest of the stations in terms of population and number of buildings. It was located in the present-day city of Honjō, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Okegawa-shuku

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

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.

Shinmachi-shuku

Shinmachi-shuku was the eleventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

Takasaki-shuku

Takasaki-shuku was the thirteenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan.

Matsuida-shuku

Matsuida-shuku was the sixteenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan, at the foot of Mount Myōgi.

Mikuni Kaidō (三国街道) was an ancient highway in Japan that stretched from Takasaki-juku on the Nakasendō to Teradomari-juku on the Hokuriku Kaidō.

Kōshū Kaidō one of the five routes of the Edo period Japan

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<i>The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō</i>

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. The common name for the Kiso Kaidō is "Nakasendō," so this series is sometimes referred to as the Sixty-nine Stations of the Nakasendō. It is a follow up to Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and he produced 47 of the prints, with Eisen being responsible for the rest.

References

  1. Nikkō Reiheishidō Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine .. Mainichi Shinbun. Accessed August 29, 2007.
  2. Old Nakasendo: Kuragano-shuku and Takasaki-shuku Archived 2007-08-22 at the Wayback Machine .. City of Takasaki. Accessed August 29, 2007.

Coordinates: 36°17′48″N139°02′52″E / 36.2966°N 139.0477°E / 36.2966; 139.0477

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.