Day 14 - Futagawa, Shirasuka, and Arai Post Towns, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
Day 14 - Futagawa, Shirasuka, and Arai Post Towns, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
During the Edo period, Futagawa was already a well established hub for travelers.
It was established as a Tokaido post station in the year 1601 by the Edo Shogunate.
Originally, it had two villages, Futagawa and Oiwa, and both shared the role of post station.
However, in 1644 both villages relocated to their current locations and became known as Futagawa-Juku and Kashuku-Oiwa. Futagawa is the thirty-third of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido.
In 1843, Futagawa consisted of a single honjin (where the great lords daimyo and representatives of the shogunate stayed), a waki-honjin (sub-honjin, not as high-class), 38 Hatagos (inns for general travelers), a population of 1468 people, and 328 residential houses.
Currently, the honjin and the surroundings have been restored to replicate the atmosphere of the Edo Era.
It is now a lovely museum with great exhibits about the Tokaido Road.
We stopped at the museum to see it and to learn more about how people lived, conducted business, what foods were popular at the time, what styles of architecture were used and much more.
The architecture of the houses and buildings that were placed along the Tokaido road were small and narrow in width, but longer and larger in depth.
This style of structures was unique to houses in all the posting stations. Farms and fields spread behind the houses, shrines and temples were placed at the north, and in the central area there is a bend in the road, designed to avoid a clear line of vision, in case of an attack by a warring lord.
The houses in the central area had tile roofs, while the houses in the eastern and western edges of town had straw-thatched roofs.
During the Meiji period, when Japan turned its back on its history in an attempt to “modernise” the country, orders were issued to abandon the Shukueki (the posting stations).
Futagawa-Juku reinvented itself and became a town thriving on silk production.
A successful silk venture started in the village of Oiwa, and another very successful commercialization of Tamaito Seishi (a silk made from a cocoon made by two or more silkworms).
Many silk mills were established in this area, making the area prosperous.
Nowadays there are no silk mills left in the area, however along the main road there are still some clothing stores, confectionary shops and beauty salons, which catered to the female workers who used to crowd the streets here.
From there, we had a long walk along the busy National car road.
I saw no convenience stores or businesses along the road, so I suggested that we stop to eat something and use the toilets before we started walking.
We found a convenience store that had a few seats and we stopped there to eat a rice ball.
There were truck drivers wearing overalls, and other long distance drivers who got off the highway to get something to eat at this convenience store.
The section of today’s walk that was along the National road was very noisy, so I put in my earbuds and listened to a book.
Thoughts crossed my mind as I tried not to think about the uncomfortable feeling of walking by the speeding cars.
This is what I thought about:
Many people identify themselves with their bodies, believing that they ARE their body, and that their lives start and end with the birth and death of their bodies.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Other people believe that we are souls, and neglect their bodies, believing that to fixate on the body, its health and fitness, will eventually lead to bodily identification.
This leads to spiritual people who are obese and unhealthy, and unable to experience the light-filled beings that we are.
The body is a part of us.
It is one of our guides.
We have many unseen guides who whisper advice and guidance in our ears, or who guide us through hunches and intuition.
The body is one of our direct guides.
It speaks to us through pain, joy, tiredness, fatigue, sensations, bliss, longing, power, feelings, cravings, etc.
By learning to love and honor the body and its messages, we can find more harmony while we still believe that we live in the physical realm.
It becomes easier and more enjoyable to be here.
All of our limitations are self-imposed.
Our limitation can expand and our capabilities can increase by what we believe we can do.
We are only limited by the boundaries of our imaginations.
A good example is the “Four minute mile run”.
Many years ago, 6 minutes for a mile was considered a very good run time.
Then Roger Bannister broke the old record by running a mile in under 4 minutes.
Now breaking four minutes is the norm among athletes.
Maybe one day humans will believe that it is possible to run a mile in 2 minutes, and that will become the new normal.
Finally we left the highway and started climbing up a beautiful road.
From the top, we could see the sea stretching in front of us.
This was Shirasuka Juku.
We stopped by a small but lovely Tokaido museum in Shirasuka, with lots of exhibits and explanations about the history of the Tokaido.
The museum was right before a very steep descent to sea level, where we planned to stop for a much needed rest and a late lunch.
It was a restaurant that was not located on the Tokaido, so it would require a detour.
On a whim, I suggested that Wendy ask the man running the museum to call the restaurant to ask if they were open.
After much negotiations and discussions saying that the restaurant is not on our way, he agreed to call.
They were not open today.
I was looking at the map for any open cafe but nothing was there.
Finally I just started looking for a shaded place with a bench to sit and drink our own tea and eat a mochi that we had with us, but I couldn’t find any.
At the sea, we found a Seven Eleven convenience store.
We bought some Onigiri rice balls and sat on the stone steps by the sea, to rest and eat.
The sound of the waves drowned out the sounds of the highway and the trains, and it felt almost serene.
From there, we walked to Arai Juku.
The post town of Arai has a lovely castle gate, made of massive beams of dark wood, guarding the entrance to the old castle ruins.
It was already sunset and the setting sun painted the sky in beautiful colors.
In Arai post town by the sea, when the prevailing winds blew, some trees grew leaves only on one side.
But local lore tells a different story of why the leaves grew on one side only:
“Once upon a time, there was a princess and a commoner, and they fell in love in the capital.
After a while, the man left the capital to walk the Tokaido, and his tracks were lost.
One day, the princess heard through the grapevine that the man she loved was at the Arai checkpoint, and she organized a retinue to take her there.
The journey along the Tokaido was long and when she finally arrived, she found out that he had already passed away and was buried at Koyo-ji Temple.
After the respectful memorial service, she finally said, "I don't want to go back!"
Her attendants tried to calm her down, but the princess wouldn't listen and just held on tight to the reed leaves and wouldn't let go.
The attendants had no choice but to pull the princess away by force. One side of the reed she was holding on to, lost its leaves.
From then on, as if the princess's sad feelings had been heard, the reed’s leaves in that area began to grow only on one side.”
From Araimachi station, we took a taxi to the hotel for the night, because we missed the last hotel shuttle bus.
The hotel is large and crowded but comfortable, and it has a good hot springs bath.
The dinner is a busy buffet and it is very overpriced, so we prepared ahead and brought with us some rice balls and roasted sweet potatoes to eat in our rooms.
With love,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
steps - 28,061
km walked - 19 km
Total walked: 284 km
Old Post Towns Visited:
Futagawa - Juku station #33
Shirasuka - Juku station #32
Arai - Juku station #31
