The is a former ''

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 ...

'' on the

Ōshū Kaidō The was one of the five routes of the Edo period. It was built to connect Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Mutsu Province and the present-day city of Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. It was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu for government of ...

highway connecting Edo with northern

Mutsu Province was an old province of Japan in the area of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate and Aomori Prefectures and the municipalities of Kazuno and Kosaka in Akita Prefecture. Mutsu Province is also known as or . The term is often used to refer to the comb ...

in the

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of Japan. It is located in what is now part of the city of

Kurihara Kurihara City Hall is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,565, and a population density of 83 persons per km2 in 24,994 households. The total area of the city is . Parts of the city are with ...

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

. The site was given protection as a National National Historic Site in May 1971.

Overview

The Ōshū Kaidō was one of the five routes of the

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 ...

and was built to connect Edo (modern-day

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

) with

and the present-day city of Shirakawa,

Fukushima Prefecture Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...

, and points further north to

Ezo (also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...

. As with the other ''Kaidō'', post stations where travelers could rest on their journey were established at regular intervals. Arakabe was established as one of the five ''

shukuba were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called ''shuku-eki'' (宿駅). These post stations (or "post towns") were places where travelers could r ...

'' on the Ōshū Kaidō by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

in 1619, and the large residence of the Satō clan, who had served as generation of village headmen, received the designation of ''honjin''. The ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...

'' of Matsumae,

Hachinohe is a city located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 221,459, and a population density of 725 persons per km2 in 96,092 households, making it Aomori Prefecture's second largest city by population. The city h ...

Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. On 1 February 2021, the city had an estimated population of 290,700 in 132,719 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . ...

and

Ichinoseki Domain was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan It was located in Mutsu Province, in northern Honshū. The domain was centered at Ichinoseki jin'ya, located in the center of what is now the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture. Histo ...

s used this ''honjin'' during their '' sankin kōtai'' processions to-and-from Edo. Several repairs were made over the years, including changing the roof from its original thatch to

roof tile A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

s; however, the gate, ''Kura'' and other minor structures remained unchanged. The original ''honjin'' burned down in 1744 and the present structure dates from that reconstruction. After the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

made two official visits to the Tōhoku region and stayed at the Arakebejuku ''honjin'' in 1876 and in 1881. Since those visits, the main gate of the ''honjin'' has been permanently closed. The interior of the building is closed to the public but houses important historical materials that convey aspects of the Edo period and the management of the inn station, The Former Arakabejuku Honjin is located approximately 15 minutes by car from Tohoku Expressway Wakayanagi Kanari IC.

References

External links

Miyagi Prefecture official web page

{{in lang, ja Buildings and structures in Miyagi Prefecture 1744 establishments in Japan Kurihara, Miyagi Historic Sites of Japan Mutsu Province Residential buildings completed in 1744

Overview

See also

References

External links