The Bitter End

Art of the Edo Period

The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido

28. Mitsuke-juku (Iwata)

Mitsuke-juku

Mitsuke-juku was the twenty-eighth of the fifty-three stations of the Tokaido. It is located in what is now the central part of the city of Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The post station received its name, which means "with a view," because it was the first place from which Mount Fuji could be seen by travelers coming from Kyoto.

History

Mitsuke-juku is located on the left bank of the Tenryu River, but boats generally used the nearby Oi River, as it had a deeper channel and fewer difficult places to navigate. However, much like Shimada-juku, whenever the Oi River overflowed, travel through the town became impossible.

In addition to being a post station, Mitsuke-juku also flourished as the entry to Totomi Province's Mitsuke Tenjin Shrine and as the point at which the Tokaido separated with a hime kaido.

the Tokaido Main Line railway was established, the train station was built to the south of Mitsuke in the village of Nakaizumi. In 1940, Mistuke and Nakaizumi merged, forming the town of Iwata, which became a city in 1948.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts travelers changing boats on a sandbank while crossing the Tenryu River by ferry.