was the tenth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day town of

Hakone is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many hot springs and views of ...

in Ashigarashimo District,

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

, Japan. At an elevation of 725m, it is the highest post station on the entire Tōkaidō and was even difficult for the ''

bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

'' to maintain.

History

Hakone-juku was established in 1618, in a small area between

Hakone Pass The Hakone Pass (), is a mountain pass located between Hakone, Kanagawa, and Kannami, Shizuoka, Japan. It is in the Hakone Mountains and its elevation, 846 meters above sea level. General The Hakone Pass has been an important pass that must be cr ...

(on

Mount Hakone , with its highest peak Mount Kami (1,438 meters), is a complex volcano in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan that is truncated by two overlapping calderas, the largest of which is 10 × 11 km wide. The calderas were formed as a result of ...

) and the Hakone Checkpoint.Hakone-juku o Aruku
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Retrieved 10 December 2007. The original Hakone-juku was on the

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 ...

(modern-day Tokyo) side of the Hakone Checkpoint; however, the people living there at the time refused to build a ''

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 ...

'' to create a new post station. As a result, the post town was developed on the side of the checkpoint heading towards

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 ...

. The first settlers in the new post town originally lived in either

Odawara-juku was the ninth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was the first post station in a castle town that travelers came to when they exited Edo (modern-day Tok ...

or Mishima-shuku, the neighboring post stations, but were forced to Hakone-juku.

Neighboring post towns

;Tōkaidō :

– Hakone-juku – Mishima-shuku

References

External links

Hakone Travel: Old Tokaido and Hakone Checkpoint
{{coord missing, Kanagawa Prefecture Stations of the Tōkaidō Stations of the Tōkaidō in Kanagawa Prefecture Buildings and structures in Hakone, Kanagawa