The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

41. Miya-juku (Atsuta-ku, Nagoya)

Miya-juku

Miya-juku was the forty-first of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in what is now part of the Atsuta-ku section of the city of Nagoya, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was six km from Narumi-juku, the preceding post station.

History

In addition to being a post station on the Tokaido, Miya-juku was also part of the Minoji (a minor route which runs to Tarui-juku on the Nakasendo) and the Saya Kaido. As a result, it had the most hatago of any post station along the Tokaido, in addition to its two honjin.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831 to 1834 depicts two gangs of men dragging a portable shrine cart (not shown) past a huge torii gate. The torii gate is the symbol of a Shinto shrine, and the name of "Miya" also means a "Shinto shrine". The shrine in question is the famous Atsuta Shrine, one of the most famous in Japan and a popular pilgrimage destination in the Edo period. The area is now part of downtown Nagoya metropolis.