Day 11 - Shin Anjo To Okazaki To Fujikawa, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan

 

Day 11 - Shin Anjo To Okazaki To Fujikawa, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan

This morning was a little chilly, but it soon turned sunny and we started to warm up.
We took a train back to Shin Anjo station and walked to join the Tokaido road.

Within an hour, we were already stripping off layers of clothing.
We met several Tokaido walkers on our way through the industrial companies and car dealerships that dominate this section of the Tokaido.
They were all from Tokyo, walking to Kyoto in small stages, as their time allowed.

We arrived in Okazaki in time for lunch.
Okazaki has been famous since ancient times as a place that manufactures traditional Hatcho Miso.
Hatcho Miso is a dark red miso that has been produced in Okazaki for over 800 years.
Japan produces various types of miso, but Hatcho Miso was the exclusive supplier of miso to the royal family from 1892 until 1954.

I wanted to try this red miso, and since it was time for lunch, I was looking for a nice place that served it.
I found a beautiful traditional restaurant, located on the castle grounds, that serves a vegetarian set lunch of grilled tofu with red miso sauce.

Okazaki is a lively large town with a beautiful castle set inside a well kept garden.
Okazaki castle is unique, because it is situated between two rivers, that naturally form most of the castle’s moat.

We were there on a sunny Saturday, and there were lots of families visiting and strolling through the castle grounds.
Some families had cute little children and some families had cute little dogs that were dressed in dresses and kept in stylish carriers.

We were lucky to get a table at the restaurant, and we negotiated with the waitress and the cook who came out of the kitchen, to ensure that our lunch sets would be vegetarian.
The Hatcho miso in this specialty restaurant was thick and rich and complimented very well the tender delicious grilled tofu.
The lunch also included a miso soup, pickles, rice and tea.

On our way out of Okazaki we walked through a weekend market in the park featuring lots of stylish clothes and second hand goods, with a lively crowd of visitors.
We walked around the market enjoying the weekend atmosphere and the stylish people dressed up in vintage clothing.

I saw people eating grilled mochi on a stick, which was also served with thick red miso.
I wish I had gotten a taste because it looked so appetising, but we were all still so full from lunch.

In one of the convenience stores that we stopped at to use the bathroom, I looked at the girly magazines, while I was waiting for everyone to finish using the bathrooms.
I noticed that some of the magazines had nerdy pin up girls, which must appeal to some of the super nerdy boys in Japan.
Showing gorgeous pictures of perfect women is beyond these boys’ imaginations, hence magazines featuring nerdy sexy pin up girls, would be more appealing to them.

Soon we arrived in Fujikawa Juku.
Fujikawa-shuku was the thirty-seventh of the 53 stations of the Tokaido.
It is located in the present-day city of Okazaki.

Fujikawa-juku at its peak, was home to 302 buildings, including one Honjin Inn, one sub-honjin and 36 Inns for regular people.
It had a total population of approximately 1,200 people.
The Okazaki city has been working actively on preserving this old post town as a tourist destination.
In addition to creating the Fujikawa-shuku Archives Museum within the preserved Waki-Honjin, detailing the history of the post town, the city has preserved a number of old structures such old street lights, and traditional houses with lattice windows.
A line of old pine trees extending for approximately a kilometer, still marks the location of the old Tōkaidō road.

About an hour before we finished our walk, we stopped at a friendly cafe on the way to our train station.
They had a nice selection of teas, not just the usual black coffee that most cafes think is the best treat.

Then we walked through the Black Pine trees road, lined on both sides with tall pine trees that were originally planted during the Edo period.
We finished today at Fujikawa Station, having walked about 22 km.

Sending you love and positive vibes,
Tali

Today’s Stats:
32,312 steps
22 km
Total walked: 222 km
Old Post Towns Visited:
Fujikawa Juku #37
Okazaki Juku #38