was the forty-sixth of the sixty-nine stations of the

Nakasendō The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. There were 6 ...

connecting

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

with

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

Japan. It is located in former

Mino Province was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today southern Gifu Prefecture. Mino was bordered by Ōmi to the west, Echizen and Hida to the north, and Shinano to the east, and Ise, Mikawa, and Owari to the south. Its abbreviat ...

in what is now part of the city of

Ena Ena or ENA may refer to: Education * École nationale d'administration, French Grande école, for civil service * Education Networks of America, Internet service provider Fictional characters * Ena Sharples, from the British soap opera ''Coron ...

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. From Ōi-juku to the next post town,

Ōkute-juku was the forty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the city of Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Alternative ''kanji'' ...

, there are 13 hills to pass over. Travellers using the Shitakaidō (下街道) often used Ōi-juku, too, as they travelled on to Makiganetsui (槙ヶ根追) afterwards. Nakasendo Ōi-juku
Ibisoku Co., Ltd. Accessed July 11, 2007.

History

Ōi-juku is located in the southern foothills of the

Japanese Alps The is a series of mountain ranges in Japan which bisect the main island of Honshu. The peaks that tower over central Honshu have long been the object of veneration and pilgrimage. These mountains had long been exploited by local people for raw m ...

, near the banks of the

Agi River The is a river in Japan which flows through Gifu Prefecture. It is part of the Kiso River system. Geography The river originates from Mount Yaki on the border of Nakatsugawa and Ena and flows west. It flows through the Akigawa Dam and the � ...

.Nakasendō Ōi-juku
Central Japan Railroad Company. Accessed November 1, 2010. It consisted of five sections (named Yoko-chō, Hon-machi, Tate-machi, Chaya-chō and Hashiba) which were laid out at right angles, forming a pattern similar to that of five ''Masugata''-style gates typically found on

Japanese castle are fortresses constructed primarily of wood and stone. They evolved from the wooden stockades of earlier centuries, and came into their best-known form in the 16th century. Castles in Japan were built to guard important or strategic sites, such ...

s. While this gave it a very ordered appearance, travelers entering each section of town left that section by a road at a right angle to the entrance, making it very inconvenient and difficult to navigate in a hurry. This was done on purpose to slow down any attacker, as the post station was also a

castle town A castle town is a settlement built adjacent to or surrounding a castle. Castle towns were common in Medieval Europe. Some examples include small towns like Alnwick and Arundel, which are still dominated by their castles. In Western Europe, ...

for

Iwamura Castle 270px, Edo period layout was located in the southeastern area of Mino Province in Japan. Its ruins can be found in the modern-day municipal subdivision of Iwamura, in Ena, Gifu Prefecture. Along with Takatori Castle in Nara and Bitchu-Matsuyama ...

, which dominates a hill overlooking the town. Per the 1843 guidebook issued by the , the town had a population of 466 people in 110 houses, including one ''

honjin The ''honjin'' at Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku.">Ōhara-shuku.html" ;"title="Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku">Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku. is the Japanese word for an inn for government officials, generally located in post stations (''shukuba'') dur ...

'', one ''waki-honjin,'' and 41 ''hatago''. Ōi-juku is 345.0 kilometers from Edo/ Parts of Ōi-juku are relatively well-preserved, and several old buildings from the post station have survived to the present day, including one of the ''hatago'' and several ''machiya''. However, the ''honjin'' was destroyed in 1946 and only the gate and the outside walls now remain. The road itself has preserved its original width and the six ''Masugata'' bends are still discernible. The town also has an art museum, the with displays of ''ukiyoe'' depicting the Nakasendō.

Ōi-juku in ''The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō''

Utagawa Hiroshige's ''ukiyo-e'' print of Ōi-juku dates from 1835 -1838. The print depicts a frigid winter scene, as the area was noted for its heavy snows. Two travelers on horseback and two on foot struggle through the snow, with pine trees on either side denoting the edges of the road. In front are the snow-covered Kiso Mountains and the post station itself is not shown.

Neighboring post towns

;Nakasendō :Nakatsugawa-juku - Ōi-juku -

References

* * * *

External links

Hiroshige Kiso-Kaido seriesOi-juku on Kiso Kaido RoadGifu Nakasendo Guide

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oi-Juku Stations of the Nakasendō Post stations in Gifu Prefecture Ena, Gifu Mino Province