Futagawa-juku

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Futagawa-juku (二川宿, Futagawa-juku^?) was the thirty-third of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the city of Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was the eastern most post station in Mikawa Province.

[edit] History

Futagawa-juku was established in 1601 when two villages, Futagawa (二川村 Futagawa-mura) and Ōiwa (大岩村 Ōiwa-mura), in Mikawa Province's Atsumi District were directed with caring for travelers. However, as the towns were rather small and were separated by 1.3km, the original setup did not last long. In 1644, the Tokugawa shogunate moved the village of Futagawa further to the west and the village of Ōiwa further to the east, before reestablishing the post station in the Futagawa's new location. An ai no shuku was built in Ōiwa.

Futagawa-juku was located approximately 283km from Edo's Nihonbashi, the start of the Tōkaidō. Furthermore, it was 5.8km from Shirasuka-juku to the east and 6.1km from Yoshida-juku to the west. Futagawa-juku itself was about 1.3km wide and held one honjin, one sub-honjin, and about 30 hatago. It's honjin was destroyed many times by fire, but it kept being rebuilt. The honjin that existed after the Meiji period was rebuilt in 1988 and became an archives museum.^[1]

During the Meiji Restoration when rail lines were being laid, the tracks ran through the town, but there was no station. After realizing the value of railroad, the town petitioned for a station and Futagawa Station was eventually built between Futagawa and Ōiwa. Though the station was built slightly apart from Futagawa, remnants from the Edo period post station can be found approximately two kilometers from the station.

[edit] Neighboring Post Towns

Tōkaidō

Shirasuka-juku - Futagawa-juku - Yoshida-juku

[edit] References