Day 30 - Hiratsuka To Tsujido, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
Day 30 - Hiratsuka To Tsujido, Walking The Tokaido Road In Japan
I didn’t sleep well last night.
I had bouts of uncontrollable coughing, and phlegm came out all night.
But still I got up and got ready for our daily walk.
We ate a good breakfast at the hotel of roasted potatoes and steamed vegetables, fresh smoothie juice and a salad.
Then we took the train back to Hiratsuka, where we had finished walking yesterday.
Hiratsuka-juku was established in 1601 as the 7th post town on the Tokaido road.
In 1655, it was renamed "Shin Hiratsuka-juku,” meaning the new Hiratsuka-juku.
In 1843, the post station had a population of 2,114 people and 443 houses, which included one Honjin inn, (inn for royals) one sub-honjin and 54 Hatago inns for common people.
The classic woodblock print by Andō Hiroshige (who travelled the Tokaido and painted all the 53 stations from 1831–1834), does not depict this post station at all, but instead shows a zig-zag road above marshy fields, with Mount Fuji appearing in the background.
One of the travelers depicted in the painting is a professional courier who was running, as part of the mail service that was offered along the Tōkaidō.
Relays of runners could convey mail or messages from Edo to Kyoto in only 90 hours.
We walked by the remains of the Botamochi teahouse.
It was established in 1601 when the Shogun Tokugawa leyasu established the system of horse-drawn carriages between post stations on the Tokaido road.
After that, facilities like these teahouses were called "stands," similar to “roadside stands,” and they were built between post stations where travelers needed to rest.
Near Hiratsuka, there were a few famous tea houses, Yotsuya, Botamochi, and Nanko Hachiman.
The teahouses were places where travelers could eat and drink while resting, but they didn’t offer accommodation.
The Botamochi Chaya was called Botamochi Tateba, because they served Botamochi, which was a famous snack in the area.
Botamochi is a wagashi (Japanese confection) made with glutinous rice mixed with sweet red bean paste, made from Azuki beans.
They are made by soaking the rice for approximately one hour. The rice is then cooked, and a thick azuki paste is hand-packed around pre-formed balls of rice.
Botamochi is eaten as a sacred food, as an offering during the spring and the autumn equinoxes in Japan.
The area had beautiful cherry trees that were in full bloom.
Then we crossed the Sagami River .
The clear water in the area was famous and there were many springs and wells to quench the thirst of travelers.
The Sagami River-Bridge Pier is now a nationally designated historic site.
This bridge was built in 1198 over the Sagami River by the powerful vassal of the Kamakura Shogunate, Inage Saburo Shigenari, to commemorate his deceased wife.
The bridge was rebuilt in 1923.
People traveling along the Tokaido Road, stayed there, and the area flourished.
At lunchtime, we stopped in the town of Chigasaki to eat lunch at a small local soba restaurant that was very popular, with many locals coming and going.
The little restaurant had only five small tables, and I felt uncomfortable when our little group spread out, claiming two tables where we could have taken one small table for four.
It is considered bad manners to claim more than your share, and to constantly be concerned with your own comfort at the expense of others.
It took me years to explain to Jules and subsequently to show him the light of this unwritten rule, that if you get in to dine in a tiny place, the correct etiquette requires you to fit yourself into the space, with humility and grace.
You shouldn’t “spread out” by putting your hat on another table or claim an extra chair by putting your bag on it, unless the proprietor allows you to do so.
Now I am outnumbered three to one, although Jules is aware that it is bad form, and now he too cringes when he sees people do that.
But luckily the humble couple who run the restaurant didn’t make us feel uncomfortable.
They made soba noodles by hand in small batches, and it was very tasty.
After lunch, I started to feel sickly again, so we ended our walk earlier than planned.
We got off the Tokaido and walked two kilometers to Tsujido Station (not on the Tokaido.)
We arrived at the train station at about 4pm, just as the weather got windier and a light rain started.
Tomorrow, we will start walking from Tsujido Station.
We returned to our hotel in Yokohama by train, and went out to do our laundry.
The nearest laundromat was in China Town, which was well lit and colorful at night.
I didn’t have the appetite to dine out in one of the restaurants in Chinatown.
Instead, while Jules did the laundry, I walked over to the nearest supermarket and bought a baguette, an avocado, cucumbers and tomatoes to eat in our hotel room later tonight.
With love and blessings,
Tali
Today’s Stats:
Steps - 23,208
km walked - 16 km
Total walked: 564 km
Old Post Towns Visited:
Hiratsuka Juku #7
