260px, Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō'' series">The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō">Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō'' series was the last 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 centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' ...

, as well as the last of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It was from the previous post town,

Kusatsu-juku 260px, The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō">Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō'' series was the fifty-second of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō as well as the sixty-eighth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. ...

,Tōkaidō 53: Ōtsu-juku
Kōhei Wada. Accessed July 17, 2007. and was located in

Ōmi Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...

. It is currently located in the present-day city of

Ōtsu 270px, Ōtsu City Hall is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 343,991 in 153,458 households and a population density of 740 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . History Ōtsu is ...

Shiga Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

The road through Ōtsu-juku is flat and runs along the bank of

Lake Biwa is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...

, passing the ''

jōkamachi The were centres of the domains of the feudal lords in medieval Japan. The ''jōkamachi'' represented the new, concentrated military power of the daimyo in which the formerly decentralized defence resources were concentrated around a single, cent ...

'' of

Zeze Domain was a '' fudai'' feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan. It was located in southern Ōmi Province, in the Kansai region of central Honshu. The domain was centered at Zeze Castle, located on the shore of Lake Biwa in w ...

. Before entering Ōtsu-juku, the road made several double-bends intended to slow down any attacker in front of

Zeze Castle thumbnail, 260px, aerial photograph of site of Zeze Castle thumbnail, 260px, Edo period layout of Zeze Castle , is a ''hirashiro''-style Japanese castle located in eastern part of the city of Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. Overview Zeze Castl ...

. Ōtsu had been the capital of Japan briefly in the 7th century and was an important town due to its location on the outlet Lake Biwa via the Seta River, which becomes the "Uji River" is Kyoto and the "Yodo River" in Osaka. A famous ancient Chinese-style bridge crossed the river at this point. This bridge was much celebrated in literature and marked the edge of the capital region. Per the 1843 guidebook issued by the , the town had a population of 14,892 in 350 houses, including two ''

honjin image:Ohara-juku01s3200.jpg, The ''honjin'' at Inaba Kaidō's Ōhara-shuku. is the Japanese word for an inn for government officials, generally located in post stations (''shukuba'') during the later part of the Edo period. Evolution of ''Honjin ...

'', one ''waki-honjin,'' and 71 ''

hatago were Edo period lodgings for travelers at ''shukuba'' (post stations) along the national highways, including the Edo Five Routes and the subroutes. In addition to a place to rest, ''hatago'' also offered meals and other foods to the travelers. ...

''. Ōtsu-juku was also the starting point for the Ōsaka Kaidō, an extension of the Tōkaidō which bypassed Kyoto and passed through Fushimi,

Hirakata 260px, Hirakata Park is a city in northeastern Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 397,681 in 183075 households and a population density of 6100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Hirakat ...

and Moriguchi to central

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

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

Utagawa Hiroshige or , born Andō Tokutarō (; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series '' The Fifty-three Stations ...

's ''

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

'' print of Ōtsu-juku dates from 1835–1838. The print depicts the main street of Ōtsu-juku, Hacho-dori, which slopes down to

. Heavily-laden oxcarts are ascending the street, which draw the attention of three traveling women heading in the opposite direction. The opened-fronted shop of the left contains a ''

kago A is a type of litter used as a means of human transportation by the non-samurai class in feudal Japan and into the Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era ...

'' (palanquin), with two bearers in front, hoping for customers. The shops on both sides of the street have signs with various letters or symbols representing Hiroshige and/or his publisher. Overhead, migrating flocks of birds indicate that the scene is set in autumn.

Ōtsu-juku in ''The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō''

's ''

'' ''Hōeidō'' edition print of Ōtsu-juku dates from 1833–1834. The print again depicts oxcarts, heavily laden with bushels of rice or charcoal, but this time descending the street. The oxcarts pass in front of the open front of the Hashirii teahouse, which was a popular resting point on the highway, and which served , sweet rice cake which remains a local specialty of Ōtsu to this day. In front of the teahouse is a well from which fresh water gushes out. The Hashirii teahouse survived to the early

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, and was later purchased for use as a villa by the ''

nihonga ''Nihonga'' () is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from ...

'' painter Hashimoto Kansetsu in 1915. After his death, it became a Bushiest temple called Gesshin-ji. It is located between Oiwake Station and Ōtani Station on the

Keihan Keishin Line The is an interurban partially-street running railway line in Japan operated by the private railway operator Keihan Electric Railway. The line connects Misasagi Station in Kyoto and Biwako-hamaotsu Station in the neighbouring city of Ōtsu ...

Neighboring post towns

;Nakasendō & Tōkaidō :

- Ōtsu-juku -

Sanjō Ōhashi is a bridge in Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It spans the Kamo River as part of Sanjō-dōri (三条通り ''Third Avenue''). It is well known because it served as the ending location for journeying on both the Nakasendō and the Tōkaidō; the ...

; Ōsaka Kaidō (extended Tōkaidō) :

- Ōtsu-juku - Fushimi-juku

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

External links

THE WOODBLOCK PRINTS OF UTAGAWA HIROSHIGE The Great TōkaidōŌtsu on Kiso Kaido RoadShiga-Biwako Visitors Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otsu-juku Stations of the Tōkaidō Stations of the Nakasendō Stations of the Tōkaidō in Shiga Prefecture Ōtsu Ōmi Province