was the sixteenth 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 ...

. It is located in the present-day city of

Annaka 240px, Edo-period Usui Magistrate’s office in Annaka is a city located in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,911 in 24,749 households, and a population density of 210 persons per km². The total area of the ...

Gunma Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima ...

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 ...

, at the foot of

Mount Myōgi is one of the major mountains in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Its straddles the border between the municipalities of Annaka, Shimonita and Tomioka. Well known for its rocks weathered into fantastic forms, this famous peak is ranked among Japan's th ...

Travel towards Kyoto

Usuinoseki Checkpoint was one of the four major checkpoints along the Nakasendō and was between Matsuida-shuku and

Sakamoto-shuku was the seventeenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. History Sakamoto-shuku is located at the eastern entrance to the Usui Pass. During the Edo period, there ...

. Travelers who wanted to avoid this checkpoint could make use of a ''

hime kaidō was the name given to minor routes that created detours around the difficult crossings (or river crossings) of main routes during the Edo period in Japan. These routes could be found on many of the Edo Five Routes, as well as on other sub-routes th ...

'' that would take them over the mountains and to

Oiwake-shuku was the twentieth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day town of Karuizawa, in the Kitasaku District of Nagano Prefecture, Japan. History This post town was named ''Oiwake'', which means "where two roa ...

, the twentieth station on the Nakasendō.Hiroshige — Kisokaido
. www.hiroshige.org.uk. Accessed October 24, 2007.

Neighboring Post Towns

;Nakasendō :

Annaka-shuku was the fifteenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. ''Batō Kan'on'' (馬頭漢音 ''horsehead gods'') lined the way to the post town.Sakamoto-shuku was the seventeenth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. History Sakamoto-shuku is located at the eastern entrance to the Usui Pass. During the Edo period, there ...

References

{{coord, 36.3152, 138.7964, type:landmark_scale:2500, display=title Post stations in Gunma Prefecture Stations of the Nakasendō