Kashiwabara-juku (柏原宿 Kashiwabara-juku ) was the sixtieth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
Records of Kashiwabara-juku itself date back to the Middle Ages when it was mentioned in the Taiheiki, a historical epic of Japan. A post station was first established in the Kashiwabara-juku area in 646.[1] The Kashiwabara-juku established by Tokugawa Ieyasu in the 17th century was approximately 1.5 km (0.9 mi) from east to west, making it one of the larger post stations along the Nakasendō.[2] Different sources place the number of hatago as either 344[3] or 457,[2] though either number would be large when compared to other post stations.
In 1996, a study was conducted which showed that over one-fifth of the structures in the Kashiwabara-juku area were built in the either the Edo or Meiji periods.[1] Nowadays, it is known for its wormwood, which is the local specialty. At one point, there were over ten shops that specialized in wormwood products.
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