The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

17. Okitsu-juku (Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka)

Okitsu-juku

Okitsu-juku was the seventeenth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in what is now part of the Shimizu-ku area of Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

History

Okitsu-juku was established in 1601, just before the beginning of the Edo period. At its peak, there were approximately 316 buildings and 1,668 people. Among the buildings were two honjin, two sub-honjin and 34 hatago. It was a little over 11 kilometers from the preceding post station, Yui-shuku.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts two sumo wrestlers being carried across the Okitsu River, one on a packhorse and the other in a kago.