The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

23. Shimada-juku (Shimada)

Shimada-juku

Fujieda-juku was the twenty-second of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in what is now part of the city of Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

History

Fujieda-juku was a castle town of the Tanaka Domain. Additionally, it was a post station along the Unuma Kaido, which ran to the salt-producing area of Sagara. It flourished as a commercial town and, at its prime, hosted 37 hatago.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts the actual business of the shukuba as a relay station to change horses and coolies to permit the rapid transmission of high priority messages and goods between Edo and Kyoto.

At the beginning of the Meiji period, when the Tokaido Main Line railway was being built, residents were worried about the smoke and ash from the newly developed steam locomotives would ruin their green tea crop, and decided to block construction of the 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 old town. However, after Fujieda became a city, its area expanded greatly and has become an industrial community. Additionally, it serves as a bedroom community to Shizuoka.