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...
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...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...

Travelers on the Nakasendo

Who Traveled the Nakasendo?

The Nakasendo may have been a road through the mountains and half as wide as the Tokaido which followed the flatter coastal areas, but it was very heavily traveled in the Edo period. The primary reason for the highway system through Japan was to provide the Tokugawa shogunate with the communication network it required to… [Read more]

The Story of Princess Kazunomiya

Princess Kazunomiya was the sister of Emperor Komei (reigned 1846-67) and was married to the 14th Tokugawa shogun, Iemochi, in 1862. The marriage was a political device intended to bring the imperial court and the Tokugawa shogunate into harmony, even though the princess, then aged 16, was already betrothed to someone else within the imperial… [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.

Castle Towns

The Shinkansen

Namiki

Pilgrimage

The Ashita Honjin

Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Kyoto Development Issues

Landslides

Who Traveled the Nakasendo?

The Story of Princess Kazunomiya

The Japanese Family System

Christianity

The Battleground at Sekigahara

University Education

Manga (Cartoons, comics)

Travelers on the Nakasendo

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