Ōkute-juku (大湫宿 Ōkute-juku) was the forty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō during the Edo period. This is the first station along the Nakasendō to be in the domain of the Owari Clan, one of the most powerful regional clans. It is located in the present-day city of Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Alternative kanji for the post town are 大久手.[1]
Ōkute-juku was first established in 1604, and came to serve as a post town between Ōi-juku and Hosokute-juku (which come before and after Ōkute-juku, respectively). Biwa Pass (琵琶峠 Biwa-tōge) crossed a small mountain between those two post towns and is near where Ōkute-juku was established.[1] Princess Chikako stayed at this town during her travels along the Nakasendō. At the top of Biwa Pass, there is a stone inscribed with a poem that Chikaku wrote, feeling that she had finally left her home, Kyoto, on her journey to Edo to meet and marry the shogun. Also, Shinmei Shrine has a Japanese cedar tree that is over 1,300 years old.[1]
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