The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

10. Hakone-juku (Hakone, Ashigarashimo District)

Hakone-juku

Hakone-juku was the tenth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in the present-day town of Hakone in Ashigarashimo District, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. At an elevation of 725m, it is the highest post station on the entire Tokaido and was even difficult for the bakufu to maintain.

History

Hakone-juku was established in 1618, in a small area between Hakone Pass (on Mount Hakone) and the Hakone Checkpoint. The original Hakone-juku was on the Edo (modern-day Tokyo) side of the Hakone Checkpoint; however, the people living there at the time refused to build a honjin to create a new post station. As a result, the post town was developed on the side of the checkpoint heading towards Kyoto. The first settlers in the new post town originally lived in either Odawara-juku or Mishima-shuku, the neighboring post stations, but were forced to Hakone-juku.