The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

4. Hodogaya-juku (Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama)

Hodogaya-juku

Hodogaya-juku was the fourth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in Hodogaya-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.

History

Hodogaya-juku was established in 1601, and it was the western most post station in Musashi Province during the Edo period. The honjin still belongs to the same family today as the one that owned it when it was first opened.[citation needed] Additionally, there is a stone Buddha statue that travelers often prayed to for safety while traveling along the Tokaido.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts a bridge over a stream, with two porters carrying a closed kago towards a village on the other side. By the bridge is a soba restaurant with waitresses standing in front beckoning travellers to enter.