History of my Tokaido Walk

Here is a summary of the Tokaido routes I have walked so far.
I am sorry I am a little behind on updating the BLOG, but I will catch up soon!

Please follow the links to see what I have seen during my walk.

"Tokaido 53 Tsugi" - The 53 Stations of Tokaido:
Beginning (04/25/2013)
# 0 Edo onwards (5/12/2013)
# 1 Shinagawa onwards (5/12/2013)
# 2 Kawasaki onwards (5/12/2013, 6/2/2013)
# 3 Kanagawa onwards (6/2/2013)
# 4 Hodogaya onwards (6/9/2013)
# 5 Totsuka onwards (4/28/2013, 6/9/2013))
# 6 Fujisawa onwards (4/28/2013)
# 7 Hiratsuka onwards (4/29/2013)
# 8 Oiso-shuku onwards (6/17/2013)
# 9 Odawara-shuku onwards (TBD)
#10 Hakone-shuku onwards (TBD)
#11 Mishima onwards (4/30/2013)
#12 Numazu onwards (4/30/2013)
#13 Hara onwards (5/1/2013)
#14 Yoshiwara onwards (5/1/2013)
       Yoshiwara onwards 2 (5/2/2013)
#15 Kambara onwards (5/2/2013)
#16 Yui onwards (5/3/2013)
#17 Okitsu-shuku onwards (5/3/2013, 5/4/2013)
#18 Ejiri-shuku onwards (5/4/2013)
#19 Fuchu-shuku onwards (5/4/2013, 5/18/2013)
#20 Mariko-shuku onwards (5/18/2013)
#21 Okabe-shuku onwards (5/18/2013, 5/19/2013)
#22 Fujieda-shuku onwards (
#23 Shimada-shuku onwards (6/29/2013)
#24 Kanaya-shuku onwards (6/29/2013, 6/30/2013)
#25 Nissaka-shuku onwards (6/30/2013)
#26 Kakegawa-shuku onwards (6/30/2013, 7/1/2013)
#27 Fukuroi-shuku onwards (7/1/2013)
#28 Mitsuke-shuku onwards (7/1/2013, 7/2/2013)
-- Summer pause.  Too hot to walk --
25 more stations to go.

Shimada: the 23rd Station of Tokaido

It is June 29, 2013 - 1st day of my summer vacation.

I had worked really hard at the end of the quarter, so I decided to reward myself with a little time off.

This time, my trip starts from Shimada, the place I left off when I walked the Tokaido during Goldenweek.

Shimada-shuku does not have very many signs, so I just found the Enterance to the west.  Today, this is where I leave the Shimada-shuku.

I walked down the Tokaido until is parted from the modern day main road - towards the left, heading for Ooikawagoe  site.

Ooi River is a very large and dangerous river, and long ago there were no bridges.  So people crossed the river either carried on the sholder or by the carriage carried by "Kawagoe Ninsoku."

The government at that time had created a government ruled system that allowed towns by the river to charge for the service to cross the river.

Here, they have preserved many houses where people who worked in the system lived and worked.

I am in modern age, so I used this.

Scary, isn't it?  It is a long long bridge that people usually cycle across.  

I have no choice but to walk, so I enjoyed the view crossing the river.

These are rapid waters - I can see why people needed to be skilled in order to walk across the river.

Then, I walked through a local village to get to the next station, Kanaya-shuku.

Memo: Hotels I Liked

I am pretty picky about hotels, and being picky does not go well when you are walking the rual areas of Japan.

Some things I am careful of when I stay at Western type Hotels:
1. Stay above a certain lower limit on room charge (without meals)
    - Urban Areas: 9,000 yen
    - Rural Cities: 7,000 yen
2. Try to stay in a newer hotel built in the 21st centry
    - old hotels have bad sewage systems
3. Try to stay in a room larger than 19m² when possible
    - air conditioning system isn't all that great in Japan

Here are hotels I liked.

Numazu
- Cocochee Hotel: English Home Page
    Room I chose: Relax Double (16m² room with Wide Bed of 140cm）

Hamamatsu Area
- Daiwa Roynet Hotel Hamamatsu: English Home Page (Group HP)
    Room I chose: Lady's Room (20m² room with Wide Bed of 140cm)

Yui: the 16th Station of Tokaido

I reached the entrance to Yui - the same zigzag road entrance - well preserved.

Yui also recreated the Honjin (lodging for high ranking people), and made it into a park.

In the park is the "Miyuki Tei" where the Emperor of the Meiji Era rested when he passed through this village.

Isn't the garden beautiful?  Japan has very distinct 4 seasons, so we have a custom to enjoy the seasons.  Japanese garden is created as a mineature of the nature that exists outside of the garden, so that you can enjoy the view without leaving the garden.  The view, the sound of birds, sound of water...you can enjoy the garden with all 5 senses if you sit quietly in the garden.


Now, I must show you what I had for dinner - the Sakura shrimp fry which you can get only twice a year:

The next day was my big day - to climb the mountainous path "Satta toge."  First, I gradually climbed the hill to the entrance of the Satta toge.  Before the mountainous path, there was an "aino-shuku" (interim resting town) where there were several beautiful old Japanese houses.  Here's one:

Then came the steep hill.  I had to take small steps to keep myself from falling down because the road was so steep.  Some people climbed the hill on their car - but I prefer the old fashioned way - the more difficult the path, more joy you will feel when you have finally climed the hill to the top!



Now, see this

This is THE scenery I wanted to see.  The mountain top you see above the clouds is Mt. Fuji.  The road you see below is the freeway.  The mix of old and new is what makes this scenery so beautiful.  I was very lucky that the clouds cleared up and I could see Mt. Fuji from here.

The road for the car ends here, so everyone who wishes to go down the other side of the hill must do this on foot.  In some places, the path looks a little wild - but that is part of the fun.  ADVENTURE...(by the way, I didn't really know what "adventure" meant until I wandered into real wilderness near Okabe later)

Then, I enter the farm land.  I lost my way, so I asked a farmer how I can get to the Kozu station.  He said "that way, or that way" and pointed in 2 opposite directions.  Oh well, I guess you don't really need precise direction around here.  All you need to know is to "go down the hill" and you will eventually hit the ocean.  Lessons learned.

As I enter Kozu, I am again hit by the heat of concrete.  We really need to do something with the roads.  They really heat up the air...

Kozu - the 17th Station of Tokaido

The first thing you see when you enter Kozu are a group of stone signs that tell you where the roads used to part, and also where the old lantern was.

All of them are really old, so even if you were able to read Japanese, you wouldn't be able to see what each symbol means.  But they were probably important signs long ago.

The town of Kozu has completely been modernized, so the only thing there to see are the sign that tell you where the honjin (lodging for high ranking people) were.  The next sign is the sign of Toiyaba (Horse stable), then the Honjin.  (2 Honjins and 2 Waki-honjin).

I

And it was HOT!  Hot from the heated roads.  No trees to shade you. 

 Being hungry and tired, I was looking for a famous restaurant to have lunch, but it seems to have gone out of business, so I was left alone in the middle of NOTHING...and I mean nothing.  People do not seem to dine out much here.  But I did find Japanese sweets called "Miyasama Manju" which was delivered to the emperor's family long ago.  Sweet, has a hint of "sake," and good.

I decided to all it a day here, and went back to my hotel to rest.

The next day, I started from Seigenji Temple.  This is the temple where Tokugawa Ieyasu (the Shogun that created Edo = Tokyo and the Tokaido) lived when he was held hostage by the Imagawa family.

There were English signs in the temple, so it would be a fun place for English speakers to visit.  You can actually see where Tokugawa Ieyasu studied.

As I walk down the road, I began to realize that there were old houses well reserved in this area.  For example, this house is architected in the old way, but the wooden doors at the front (you need a lot of strength to open one of these) were modernized and the wood plated aluminum doors were installed for ease of use - while preserving the look of the old house.

I saw several more of these houses as I come closer to the next station of Ejiri. 

Here (Hosoi no Matsubara), they have preserved one pine tree to remind people there used to be close to 1,000 pine trees lining the Tokaido.  Unfortunately, the resin from the pine was used to make ships, so they were cut down during the war.

The Tokaido runs on the right side of this pine trees, and several hundred kilometers down the road is Ejiri.

INDEX: The paths I have walked so far as of 2013/07/07

Here is a summary of the Tokaido routes I have walked so far.
I am sorry I am a little behind on updating the BLOG, but I will catch up soon!

Please follow the links to see what I have seen during my walk.

"Tokaido 53 Tsugi" - The 53 Stations of Tokaido:
Beginning (04/25/2013)
# 0 Edo onwards (5/12/2013)
# 1 Shinagawa onwards (5/12/2013)
# 2 Kawasaki onwards (5/12/2013, 6/2/2013)
# 3 Kanagawa onwards (6/2/2013)
# 4 Hodogaya onwards (6/9/2013)
# 5 Totsuka onwards (4/28/2013, 6/9/2013))
# 6 Fujisawa onwards (4/28/2013)
# 7 Hiratsuka onwards (4/29/2013)
# 8 Oiso-shuku onwards (6/17/2013)
# 9 Odawara-shuku onwards (TBD)
#10 Hakone-shuku onwards (TBD)
#11 Mishima onwards (4/30/2013)
#12 Numazu onwards (4/30/2013)
#13 Hara onwards (5/1/2013)
#14 Yoshiwara onwards (5/1/2013)
       Yoshiwara onwards 2 (5/2/2013)
#15 Kambara onwards (5/2/2013)
#16 Yui onwards (5/3/2013)
#17 Okitsu-shuku onwards (5/3/2013, 5/4/2013)
#18 Ejiri-shuku onwards (5/4/2013)
#19 Fuchu-shuku onwards (5/4/2013, 5/18/2013)
#20 Mariko-shuku onwards (5/18/2013)
#21 Okabe-shuku onwards (5/18/2013, 5/19/2013)
#22 Fujieda-shuku onwards (
#23 Shimada-shuku onwards (6/29/2013)
#24 Kanaya-shuku onwards (6/29/2013, 6/30/2013)
#25 Nissaka-shuku onwards (6/30/2013)
#26 Kakegawa-shuku onwards (6/30/2013, 7/1/2013)
#27 Fukuroi-shuku onwards (7/1/2013)
#28 Mitsuke-shuku onwards (7/1/2013, 7/2/2013)
-- Summer pause.  Too hot to walk --
25 more stations to go.

Kambara: the 15th Station od Tokaido

I was expecting another scarecely populated village then I saw this:

the zigzag road entry into the shuku -  still intact!

As I walk down the road, I realized that this village has marked and preserved the old  houses for tourists.  I cannot express in words how beautiful these Old Japanese houses are.

The design of the wood slats (on the sliding doors) are said to differ from region to region.  This one looks very simple.

The right hand entrance is where the tourist guide was.  You can enjoy a cup of coffee by the Irori (fire place).

A peaceful time, enjoying the fresh air, good old Japanese atmosphere, and coffee...?

I left the village and reached Kambara station.  I am hungry, it's 2:30PM...but I decided it's worth walking another few kilometers to Yui to enjoy a Sakura shrimp dinner.

So, off I go down the street though houses...to Yui...and to my Sakura shrimp dinner.