Hiratsuka-juku

Hiratsuka-juku (平塚宿, Hiratsuka-juku) was the seventh of the fifty-three stations (shukuba) of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

Hiratsuka-juku in the 1830s, as depicted by Hiroshige in the Hōeidō edition of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1831–1834)

History

Hiratsuka-juku was first established in 1601, at the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu.[1] In 1651, though, it merged with part of the nearby village of Yawata. In 1655, it was renamed "Shinhiratsuka-juku."[1]

During a census in 1843, the post station was found to have a population of 2,114 people and 443 houses, which included one honjin, 1 sub-honjin and 54 hatago.[1] The classic ukiyo-e print by Andō Hiroshige (Hōeidō edition) from 1831–1834 does not depicts the post station at all, but instead shows a zig-zag road above marshy fields, with Mount Fuji appearing behind Shonan Daira in the background. One of the travelers is a professional courier running as part of the mail service offered along the Tōkaidō. Relays of runners could convey a message from Edo to Kyoto in 90 hours.

Neighboring post towns
Tōkaidō
Fujisawa-shuku - Hiratsuka-juku - Ōiso-juku
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References
  1. 11 Hiratsuka-juku. Hiratsuka City Museum. Accessed November 5, 2007.

Further reading
  • Carey, Patrick. Rediscovering the Old Tokaido:In the Footsteps of Hiroshige. Global Books UK (2000). ISBN 1-901903-10-9
  • Chiba, Reiko. Hiroshige's Tokaido in Prints and Poetry. Tuttle. (1982) ISBN 0-8048-0246-7
  • Taganau, Jilly. The Tokaido Road: Travelling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. RoutledgeCurzon (2004). ISBN 0-415-31091-1

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