Day 19 - Over The Steep Nakayama Mountain Pass From Hizaka Juku To Kanaya And Shimada Juku, The Tale Of The Crying Stones And The Old Cobble Stone Path, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
Day 19 - Over The Steep Nakayama Mountain Pass From Hizaka Juku To Kanaya And Shimada Juku, The Tale Of The Crying Stones And The Old Cobble Stone Path, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
This morning we ate breakfast in our hotel, among hundreds of Japanese people who had stayed in the hotel overnight.
It was a very crowded affair and we were happy to check out of the hotel, which felt like checking out of a hospital.
We were so happy to leave.
Instead of waiting for the hotel’s shuttle bus, we walked down a shortcut that Wendy discovered and continued up the small mountain range back to the Tokaido.
Wendy saved us 1.5 km by following the pedestrian path to the onsen, and it made her very happy to be helping to make a long day a bit easier.
When we walk, Joseph and Jules often find a hidden tree to pee behind, but Wendy and I mostly need to find a proper toilet, so we often stop at convenience stores, community centers or grocery stores, gas stations or whatever we can find that has toilets.
After some walking, we stopped at a roadside farmer’s market that was very busy with people driving on the highway and with motorcyclists showing off their bikes.
This was a bit of a detour and required some extra time, because at first, Jules and Joseph did not follow us to the rest area, and we had to call them to find out where they were and then wait until they arrived.
When we split up inside the crowded rest area, it took awhile to regroup before we could continue walking.
As we resumed walking in the lovely countryside, the scenery became quiet and beautiful, with blooming cherry trees and lots of tea plantations.
Finally we arrived at the 25th station - Hizzaka, also known as Nissaka or Hizaka Juku.
It was a lovely small Juku.
We saw the remains of Shimokishi Gate.
During the Edo period, in order to maintain peace in the post towns, there were wooden gates at the entrance to each post town.
Larger post towns had larger gates that opened like double doors, but in the smaller Hizzaka post town, the river served as the gate.
This place, on Sakai River where Furumiya Bridge crosses, is known as the "Shimo-kido" (lower gate). Until the late Edo period, the bridge was narrow and made of rough wood, and it is said that when an incident occurred, the bridge was removed to maintain peace in the post town.
It is also said that the notice board, which listed all the rules and regulations and was under the control of the innkeeper, served as a gate.
We stopped to drink our tea, at one of the beautifully restored old inns.
The samurai Ota Yoshiro and Minamoto no Shigekichi, who were seriously wounded in the Sieges of Osaka, received treatment here and then continued to live in Hizzaka.
The inn "Kawasakaya" is said to have been started by their descendant, who also worked as a wholesaler during the Kansei era (1789-1800).
The current building was rebuilt after the "Hizaka-juku Fire" in 1852, when most of the post town burned down.
This was the westernmost inn in Hizaka-juku, and is one of the few buildings in the area that still retains the look of the Edo period.
It features an elaborate wooden framework and fine latticework, and it is said that a master carpenter was brought in from Edo to build it.
The fact that it has an upper room with a tokonoma alcove that was made from cypress wood, which was prohibited at the time, suggests that it was a prestigious inn where high-ranking samurai and nobles stayed.
It seems that the inn went out of business at the same time as the Honjin inns, at the beginning of the Meiji era.
However, based on the writings of Meiji government officials, it is believed that the inn continued to provide lodging to important people even after it went out of business.
Then we walked by a field that once was the site of a wholesale market.
At post stations along the Tokaido, processions of the shogunate and other high officials and their baggage were transported from post station to post station by men, carriages, oxen and horses.
The procession that was to be transferred to the next post station required the mandatory preparation of men, carriages and horses for this purpose.
The post that handled this business at the post station was called a
"Wholesaler" and the office was called a "Tonyaba."
The "Wholesaler" was the most important position within the post station.
The wholesale market of Hizaka-juku was once located here, and according to the "General Register of Post Towns along the Tokaido Road,” the inn officials of Hizaka juku were one wholesaler, four elders, two private accountants, five accountants, three horsemen, three laborers, and six more people.
The wholesaler, elders, and inn officials would take turns being stationed at the wholesale market every day, and when there was important traffic, they would all be involved in the work.
No buildings or other remains from that time remain today.
Counting from Shinagawa Station on the Tokaido, Hizaka is located about 54 Ri from Edo (216 kilometers).
Hizaka is located at the western foot of the Nakayama Mountain Pass.
This pass was considered one of the three most dangerous places on the Tokaido Road, and it is still one of the steepest climbing paths on the Tokaido.
It was first mentioned in the 3rd year of the Enkei era (1310) during the Kamakura period.
In 1601, with the construction of the Tokaido by Tokugawa leyasu, a wholesaler's office was established and Hizaka-juku became an important station for horse-drawn carriages.
With the cooperation of the surrounding 43 villages in the district, 100 ox-drawn carriages and 100 horse-drawn carriages were established, which helped with official business for government officials and the transport of goods.
According to records, there were 168 houses and a population of 750, including one main inn, one side inn, and 33 lodgings for common people.
Although it was a small post town, it must have been quite bustling due to the frequent closure of the Oi River, and the feudal lords' alternate attendance there.
Hizaka juku was often hit by fires.
In those days, people prayed for the protection of the gods and the Buddhas, and often built shrines and night lanterns in various places around town, to protect their homes from fire.
From there, we started climbing up the Nakayama Mountain Pass.
In places, it was so steep that I had to encourage Wendy and Joseph by teaching them how to count fifty steps up, then stop to breathe for a few minutes before continuing to climb fifty more steps.
I also stopped frequently to take photos and to translate the signs along the way.
Perhaps wanting to finish the hard climb faster because he was carrying a heavier backpack, Jules pushed ahead and walked faster without stopping.
It felt like we climbed up for a very long time, but it couldn’t have been too many kilometers.
We all agreed that it was perhaps steeper than the Shizuoka pass.
At the top, the terrain became more hilly and we were surrounded by beautiful tea plantations.
In the distance, we could see that the “Cha-Kanji” (the character for “tea”) was cut from camellia tea plants into the side of the mountain.
It was very beautiful.
There were poems about the hardship of the road in this area.
The steep curves of the mountain pass were even mentioned in ancient texts.
Before these sharp curves, there was a place called"Kutsukake", where pilgrims offered straw sandals or horseshoes to the mountain gods, before they approached the steep slope of the mountain pass, praying for a safe journey.
One of the poems said:
“Climbing up the east road of Sayaka Nakayama pass,
I will give my all to the invisible clouds.
On the way to the East
I leave the capital.
I've come a long way.
I can't even see clearly
A lifetime under the sky of a distant journey,
Is it ever going to be finished?”
Another poem said:
“Sleeping on a horse,
The remainder of the dream moon is far away.
On a horseback rising early,
Both the horse and I have a hard time walking up.
Both of us are dreaming of the rest at the end of the day.
He is walking slowly.
The dawn moon is far away at the edge of the mountain.
From the village of Hizaka comes the smoke of the morning tea preparations.
It rises thinly.”
We walked by a memorial stone for the pregnant princess who was killed while traveling on the Tokaido.
They say that the tears of the unborn child in her belly can be still heard, as the wind blows in the pine trees behind the crying stones.
The inscription on the stone reads: "An ancient pregnant woman's Night-Crying Pine Tree, Gathering Place Of All Souls of the Three Worlds”…
(The three worlds in Buddhism refers to the world of the realm of Desire, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm).
At the top of the pass, we stopped at an old Chaya (tea house) that has been here since ancient times.
The very nice lady who runs the Chaya sells souvenirs, gifts, traditional candy and drinks.
She offered us the traditional “child rearing candy” made from barley malt.
The story about how the malt barley candy got its name as “Child rearing candy” is as follows:
"Sayo no Nakayama is a mountain pass between the town of Nissaka and Kakegawa, in Shizuoka prefecture.
It is mentioned in waka poetry as one of the most difficult passes of the Tōkaidō, together with the Hakone pass and the Suzuka pass.
It was famous for the 'nightly weeping rock' (yonaki ishi) and 'child-rearing-candy' (kosodate ame), after a legend, according to which a faithful Buddhist woman, who was pregnant, was killed by a bandit while traveling on the Tokaido to see her husband.
The Kannon (Buddhist goddess of mercy) from nearby Kyūen-ji caused a stone by the side of the road to cry for help, which was heard by a priest, who took the child from the woman's womb and took him home to raise it at the temple.
The priest didn’t have milk so he fed the infant boy with a simple candy made from barley malt.
When the boy grew up he revenged his mother's death.
After that, the temple changed its name to Kosodate-bosatsu (child-rearing Buddha) and the candy that has been sold at this local tea-house is called Meibutsu.
The lovely woman also gave me a hand drawn map and some advice about the path ahead.
Apparently, we still had more climbing to do, and an ancient cobble stone path to climb up and very steeply down on.
The Kikugawazaka stone pavement was discovered in 2000 and it dates back to the late Edo period.
During the Edo period, various jobs were carried out under a system called "Sukego" (village headman), and this stone path was also laid by the sukegoyaku (assistant village headman) who were assigned to the twelve neighboring villages.
It is said that this stone paved road was once a major thoroughfare connecting Edo and Kyoto and that it was bustling with many travelers.
It was not so easy to walk on those rounded stones with soft shoes and tired legs, but we all did very well and nobody slipped as we climbed up and then down the cobble stone path for a long while.
Then we saw the ruins and the site of Suwahara Castle as we walked down the cobble stone path for what felt like a long time.
More poems were posted on the road making the tedious walk more interesting:
“Travel and sleep
Saya no Nakayama Pass,
The deer cry and I miss my wife.
A timid traveler
In the middle of the night,
Alone in the mountains,
I hear the deer cry
I'm coming.
A cry across the valley
Maybe I imagined it.
Perhaps it's the scenery on the
other side of the valley that is scary.”
And another poem:
“Traveling for too long,
Evening frost,
On the cold grass, the leaves had fallen.
A storm blows through the mountains.
The evening frost feels fresh.
Here on the mountain pass at Saya no Nakayama.
On one side of road,
The wind is rubbing the bamboo leaves together.
The cold wind blows through.
And another poem:
It is cloudy.
Will I overcome the Nakayama Pass?
Let the dawn moon shine in the capital.
It is so cloudy.
Please tell the kids in the club that
we have crossed the
Nakayama Mountains.”
At the bottom of the cobblestone path, we tried to get lunch in a charming old restaurant in a historic house on the Tokaido.
But they were full and had an hour’s wait for lunch, and we did not have the time to wait.
It felt so unfair that we couldn’t get lunch there.
Well dressed people drove here in their shiny cars, to enjoy the steaming bamboo baskets of root vegetables and rice bowls, food to fortify tired pilgrims, while we, the only tired pilgrims in the restaurant, couldn’t get a table.
Instead, we had to take a deep breath and continue to walk farther down into town, without getting any rest.
We arrived at Kanaya, the 24th station post town of the Tokaido.
We saw the remains of the Kanaya Ohashi Bridge (West Entrance Earthen Bridge).
The current Fudobashi Bridge was built in the Edo period.
Because it was not very big, it was repaired and replaced approximately every three years, at the expense of the magistrate's office.
From here, those who came from Edo and walked towards Kyoto started the climb up the Kanayazaka slope, one of the most difficult sections of the Tokaido, with a continuous ascent and descent of the steep slopes of Makinohara Plateau and the Sayo no Nakayama Mountain Pass.
At the western foot of the bridge, there used to be a restaurant called “Dojo-ya" that served a single bowl of rice, and at the other side, there was a tailoring shop, where people could repair or replace their clothing before going up and down the mountain.
In Kanaya, we found a small cafe, and ate a pasta, tea and a cheese cake.
The place was small and everyone admired our journey along the Tokaido.
Then we walked through a street that was like a tunnel of blooming cherry trees, to Shimada Juku.
It looked like a festival had just finished there, and they were taking down the lanterns.
Shimada-juku is located along the Oi River (Oigawa River). In the early Edo period, in 1601, the shogunate established a system of post stations on the Tokaido road, connecting Edo and Kyoto, to improve transportation on the road.
However, major rivers such as the Oi River, the Abe River, and the Sakagawa River were considered strongholds.
So bridges and ferries were not allowed to be built over them, and instead the river porters used to carry passengers across those rivers.
In the early Edo period, the system for crossing the Oi River was relatively free and open, but from around 1687-1704, the system was tightened to ensure the safety of travelers, and in 1689, two river village headmen were appointed to oversee the practical aspects of crossing the river, and the River Council Office was established as their office.
Travelers could cross the Oi river at a designated place through the River Council Office.
After paying a fee, they bought a ticket, handed it over to the “Kawagoe minsoku” (porter) waiting on the riverbank, and then rode on a wooden platform which had a shoulder support, carried by the porter to the other side.
The officials also appointed porters to handle people who wanted to cross the river late at night, to handle queues for passersby and to sell river tickets, ensuring smooth operations. They also collected fees from people who were crossing at the shallow sandy points of the river, other than at the designated crossing point.
There were initially 360 porters carrying people across the river in Shimada and Zentani, but as traffic volume increased, their numbers increased, and by the end of the Edo period, there were about 650 porters.
The systen was abolished in 1870, when the government lifted the ban on crossing bridges.
The Shimada-juku Oigawa Kawagoe ruins were designated a national historic site in 1966 as a valuable site that retains buildings and remains from the Oigawa River, known as the most dangerous point on the Tokaido road during the Edo period, including the river meeting place and the guardhouse used as a place for Kawagoe laborers.
In 1996, it was designated a "historical site" by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and one of the 100 Best Landscapes in Japan.
Shimada-juku had a Flood Gate to prevent the river from overflowing.
Due to a successful attempt to control the flood waters, Shimada-juku's rice production has increased twice as much as it used to be.
We walked through Shimada Juku, which had nice old houses along the main road.
We passed by the house of a woman who looked like a crow, with very dark dyed black hair.
She seemed to be a “Crow Lady,” because she had a crow as a pet, which she released and then called for it to come back, using crow calls, and calling out, “Cracow, Cracow, come back!”
By the end of the long day, we took the train to the Ole hotel in Fujieda.
The hotel was located right in the train station, and they had a hot public bath to soak in.
Wendy and Joseph got dinner in one of the restaurants below the hotel, but at the end of the day I felt too cold to go out, and just ordered a veggie burger on Uber Eats, which we ate in our room.
It was a challenging day.
Jules and I are still feeling sick, yet we did well today.
We walked up and down a steep mountain pass carrying our backpacks, hardly got any rest time during the day, and we all learned so much about the history of the Tokaido Road.
With love,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
Steps - 33,421
km walked - 22 km
Total walked: 368 km
Old Post Towns Visited:
Nissaka or Hizaka Juku #25
Kanaya Juku #24
Shimada Juku #23
