Fujieda-juku

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Fujieda-juku in the 1830s, as depicted by Hiroshige in The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō

Fujieda-juku (藤枝宿, Fujieda-juku^?) was the twenty-second of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the city of Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

[edit] History

Fujieda-juku was a castle town to the Edo period Tanaka Castle, run by the Tokugawa shogunate.^[1] Additionally, it was a post station along the Unuma Kaidō, which ran to the salt-producing area of Sagara. It flourished as a commercial town and, at its prime, hosted 37 hatago.

At the beginning of the Meiji period, when the Tōkaidō Main Line was being developed, residents were worried about the smoke and ash that would come from the newly developed steam locomotive and decided to block construction of the rail line. As a result, Fujieda Station (now part of Central Japan Railway Company) was built approximately three kilometers from the town, which led to a decline in prosperity for the town. However, after Fujieda became a city, it's area expanded greatly and has become an industrial community. Additionally, it serves as a bedroom community to Shizuoka.

The city of Fujieda tries to bring back the memories of the old post town by hosting a Fujieda-juku festival in the city's commercial district.^[2]