Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Omote (the public face) and ura (the private face) are twin concepts that are applied to almost any aspect of Japan or life in Japan. Omote refers to the image... Read more...
Namiki

The idea of planting trees along the roadside to provide shade for travelers had occurred to the Chinese when they developed their highway system more than 2000 years ago. Almost... Read more...
Kyoto Development Issues

Kyoto holds a unique position in Japan as the ancient, imperial capital and the cultural center of the nation. It was because of these reasons that the Japan specialists who... Read more...
Landslides

The mountains in Japan are very steep and the rocks unstable due to weathering. Landslides are common whenever there are heavy rains. Many rural villages have established themselves along the... Read more...
Pilgrimage

The idea of making a pilgrimage to visit religious places is present in nearly every culture and religion. In Japan, it is typical of both major religions, Buddhism and Shinto... Read more...
The Shinkansen

The Shinkansen is commonly known outside Japan as the 'bullet train' but the word actually means 'new trunk line'. It is a high-speed passenger train system which now stretches from... Read more...
The Ashita Honjin

Although only a small town, Ashita boasts the oldest surviving honjin on the Nakasendo. It has also been owned by the same family since its' original construction in the late... Read more...
Castle Towns

At the time of the Meiji Restoration, in 1868, some 250 castle towns (jokamachi) formed the core of a well developed urban network in Japan. Although constructed primarily as defended... Read more...

Edo Period Night Life

Nightlife in the Post-towns

In the 17th century Kaempfer wrote, ‘There is hardly a public Inn upon the great Island Nipon, but what may be called a bawdy-house’. He describes as many as six or seven ‘wenches’ at each inn sitting near the door attracting the custom of travelers. Although officially called serving maids (meshi-mori onna), it is quite… [Read more]

Oiwake – Road Junctions

Oiwake means, literally, a ‘parting of the way’ or road junction. Post-towns were often situated at these junctions and because of the larger volume of traffic through them, they tended to be larger than other towns. Examples are Oiwake (which together with some other villages takes its name from the junction), Shimo-suwa, Kusatsu (at the… [Read more]

Tonya
Tonya (also toiya) were merchant middlemen whose function in the cities was primarily wholesaling, either on commission or in their own name (which was more speculative). More of them moved toward the more speculative side of things as commerce grew in the Edo period. Along the Nakasendo and other highways, the freight managers were charged with maintaining the supply of porters and horses which were required for moving official travelers and freight along the road system. Many tonya became involved in the movement of strictly commercial goods and travelers along the highway or in the development of rural commercial operations including manufacturing. Sake brewing was typical. The tonya was usually the third most important man in a post-town, after the owners of the honjin and waki-honjin.

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