The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

20. Mariko-juku (Suruga-ku, Shizuoka)

Mariko-juku

Mariko-juku was the twentieth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in what is now part of Suruga Ward in Shizuoka City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

History

Mariko-juku was one of the smallest post stations on the Tokaido.[1] Old row-houses from the Edo period can be found between Mariko-juku and Okabe-juku, its neighboring post station, in Utsuinotani. This post town also had strong ties to the Minamoto, Imagawa and Tokugawa clans.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts two travellers at a wayside teahouse, from which another traveller has just departed.