Oiwake-shuku

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Oiwake-shuku 160730 Oiwake-shuku Karuizawa Nagano pref Japan01n.jpg
Oiwake-shuku
Keisai Eisen's print of Oiwake-shuku, part of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaido series Kisokaido20 Oiwake.jpg
Keisai Eisen's print of Oiwake-shuku, part of The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō series

Oiwake-shuku(追分宿,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.

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).

Karuizawa, Nagano Town in Chūbu, Japan

Karuizawa is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. As of 1 October 2016, the town had an estimated population of 19,939, and a population density of 128 persons per km². Its total area is 156.03 square kilometres (60.24 sq mi). Karuizawa is a popular summer resort area for the residents of Tokyo.

Contents

History

This post town was named Oiwake, which means "where two roads split," because it was at this point that the Nakasendō split from the Hokkoku Kaidō. In the late 17th century, during the Genroku period, it flourished as a post town that could hold over 200 guests. There are still many remnants from the Edo period in the town today.

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.

Genroku Japanese era

Genroku (元禄) was a Japanese era name after Jōkyō and before Hōei. This period spanned the years from ninth month of 1688 through third month of 1704. The reigning emperor was Higashiyama-tennō (東山天皇).

Edo period period of Japanese history

The Edo period or Tokugawa period (徳川時代) is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japanese society was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional daimyō. The period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, "no more wars", and popular enjoyment of arts and culture. The shogunate was officially established in Edo on March 24, 1603, by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration on May 3, 1868, after the fall of Edo.

Though not a neighboring post town, Matsuida-shuku also provides a direct connection to Oiwake-shuku along the Nakasendō, by way of a minor hime kaidō . This hime kaidō allows travelers to avoid the Usuinoseki Checkpoint, one of the major checkpoints along the highway. [1]

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.

Hime kaidō was the name given to minor routes that created detours around the difficult crossings of main routes during the Edo period in Japan. These routes could be found on many of the Edo Five Routes, as well as on other sub-routes that crossed the country.

Neighboring post towns

Nakasendō
Kutsukake-shuku - Oiwake-shuku - Otai-shuku
Hokkoku Kaidō
Oiwake-shuku(starting location) - Komoro-shuku

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Shiojiri-shuku

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Warabi-shuku

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Wada-shuku

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Nagakubo-shuku

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Mochizuki-shuku

Mochizuki-shuku was the twenty-fifth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Saku, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Iwamurada-shuku

Iwamurada-shuku was the twenty-second of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Saku, in Nagano Prefecture, Japan.

Otai-shuku

Otai-shuku was the twenty-first of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day town of Miyota, in the Kitasaku District of 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.

Kutsukake-shuku

Kutsukake-shuku was the nineteenth 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.

Annaka-shuku

Annaka-shuku was the fifteenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Batō Kan'on lined the way to the post town.

<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. Hiroshige - Kisokaido Archived 2007-10-29 at the Wayback Machine .. www.hiroshige.org.uk. Accessed October 24, 2007.

Coordinates: 36°20′21″N138°32′34″E / 36.3391°N 138.5427°E / 36.3391; 138.5427

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.