The 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 ...

. It 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 Kai Province in modern-day

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 817,192 (1 January 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the ...

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 ...

. The route continues from there to connect with 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 ...

Shimosuwa-shuku was the twenty-ninth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō, as well as being the ending location of the Kōshū Kaidō. It is located in the present-day town of Shimosuwa, Suwa District, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. History First built arou ...

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

.Information on Everyday Living for Foreign Residents of Shinjuku City
. Shinjuku City Office. Accessed November 28, 2007. Many feudal lords from

Shinano Province or is an old province of Japan that is now Nagano Prefecture. Shinano bordered on Echigo, Etchū, Hida, Kai, Kōzuke, Mikawa, Mino, Musashi, Suruga, and Tōtōmi Provinces. The ancient capital was located near modern-day Matsumoto, whi ...

made use of the road during ''

sankin-kōtai ''Sankin-kōtai'' ( ja, 参覲交代/参覲交替, now commonly written as ja, 参勤交代/参勤交替, lit=alternate attendance, label=none) was a policy of the Tokugawa shogunate during most of the Edo period of Japanese history.Jansen, M ...

'', including those from the Takatō, Suwa and Iida domains. The Kōshū Kaidō's route is followed closely by the modern Route 20.

Stations of the Kōshū Kaidō

There are 44 post stations along the Kōshū Kaidō.Kōshū Kaidō Map
. Yumekaidō. Accessed September 4, 2007.
. NEC Corporation. Accessed August 4, 2007. They are listed below with they corresponding modern-day municipality listed in

parentheses A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

Tokyo

:Starting Location: Nihonbashi ( Chūō) :1. Naitō Shinjuku (内藤新宿) (

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

) :2. Shimotakaido-shuku (下高井戸宿) ( Suginami) :3. Kamitakaido-shuku (上高井戸宿) (Suginami) :4–8: Fuda-Goshuku（布田五宿）: These small posts are collectively referred to as Fuda-Goshuku. 'Goshuku' means five post-stations in Japanese. ::4. Kokuryō-shuku (国領宿) (

Chōfu is a city in the western side of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 238,087, and a population density of 11,000 per km². the total area of the city is . Geography Chōfu is approximately in the south-center of ...

) ::5. Shimofuda-shuku (下布田宿) (Chōfu) ::6. Kamifuda-shuku (上布田宿) (Chōfu) ::7. Shimoishihara-shuku (下石原宿) (Chōfu) ::8. Kamiishihara-shuku (上石原宿) (Chōfu) :9. Fuchū-shuku (府中宿) ( Fuchū) :10. Hino-shuku (日野宿) ( Hino) :11. Hachiōji-shuku (八王子宿) (

Hachiōji is a city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 561,344, and a population density of 3000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Hachiōji is located in the ...

) :12. Komagino-shuku (駒木野宿) (Hachiōji) :13. Kobotoke-shuku (小仏宿) (Hachiōji)

Kanagawa Prefecture

:14. Ohara-shuku (小原宿) (

Sagamihara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 723,470, with 334,812 households, and a population density of 1,220 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Sagamihara is the third-most-populous city ...

) :15. Yose-shuku (与瀬宿) (Sagamihara) :16. Yoshino-shuku (吉野宿) (Sagamihara) :17. Sekino-shuku (関野宿) (Sagamihara)

Yamanashi Prefecture

:18. Uenohara-shuku (上野原宿) (

Uenohara is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 23,158 in 9987 households, and a population density of 140 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Uenohara is located in the extre ...

) :19. Tsurukawa-shuku (鶴川宿) (Uenohara) :20. Notajiri-shuku (野田尻宿) (Uenohara) :21. Inume-shuku (犬目宿) (Uenohara) :22. Shimotorisawa-shuku (下鳥沢宿) (

Ōtsuki Ōtsuki may refer to: *Ōtsuki, Yamanashi, a city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan *Ōtsuki Station, a railway station in Ōtsuki, Yamanashi, Japan *Ōtsuki, Kōchi 270px, Ōtsuki Town Hall is a town in the Hata District, Kōchi Prefecture, Jap ...

) :23. Kamitorisawa-shuku (上鳥沢宿) (Ōtsuki) :24. Saruhashi-shuku (猿橋宿) (Ōtsuki) :25. Komahashi-shuku (駒橋宿) (Ōtsuki) :26. Ōtsuki-shuku (大月宿) (Ōtsuki) :27. Shimohanasaki-shuku (下花咲宿) (Ōtsuki) :28. Kamihanasaki-shuku (上花咲宿) (Ōtsuki) :29. Shimohatsukari-shuku (下初狩宿) (Ōtsuki) :30. Nakahatsukari-shuku (中初狩宿) (Ōtsuki) :31. Shirano-shuku (白野宿) (Ōtsuki) :32. Kuronoda-shuku (黒野田宿) (Ōtsuki) :33. Komakai-shuku (駒飼宿) ( Kōshū) :34. Tsuruse-shuku (鶴瀬宿) (Kōshū) :35. Katsunuma-shuku (勝沼宿) (Kōshū) :36. Kuribara-shuku (栗原宿) ( Yamanashi) :37. Isawa-shuku (石和宿) (

Fuefuki 270px, Ichinomiya Asama Shrine is a city in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 69,463 in 29,406 households, and a population density of 340 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fuefuki is ...

) :38. Kōfu-shuku (甲府宿) (

Kōfu is the capital city of Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 187,985 in 90,924 households, and a population density of 880 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Overview Toponymy Kōfu's name means " ...

) :39. Nirasaki-shuku (韮崎宿) ( Nirasaki) :40. Daigahara-shuku (台ヶ原宿) ( Hokuto) :41. Kyōraiishi-shuku (教来石宿) (Hokuto)

Nagano Prefecture

:42. Tsutaki-shuku (蔦木宿) ( Fujimi, Suwa District) :43. Kanazawa-shuku (金沢宿) ( Chino) :44. Kamisuwa-shuku (上諏訪宿) ( Suwa) :Ending Location:

(

Shimosuwa is a town located in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 20,055 in 8864 households, and a population density of 300 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Geography Shimosuwa is located in central Na ...

, Suwa District) (also part of the

)

References

External links

Information on the 44 Stations of the Kōshū Kaidō
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koshu Kaido Road transport in Japan Edo period