After several months, I’ve uploaded another video. This time I’m documenting our visit to the historic post town of Ouchijuku. A “post town” in Japan refers to a town that during the Edo Period from the mid 1600’s to the late 1800’s served as a stopping point along one of the main routes from Kyoto to what is today called Tokyo. Tokyo used to be called “Edo” before the Meiji Period which started in the late 1860’s and carried on into the early 1900’s.
Travelers would stop at post towns spread five to 20 miles apart not only to rest and get provisions, but also to be checked up on by the local lord or “daimyo” who served under the shogun. Only a few of these towns survive today, such as Magome, Narajuku and Tsumago being the best known towns all three situated on the Nakasendo Trail. By watching our Nagoya video you can watch a segment on this beautiful town located about 45 minutes outside Nagoya.
Ouchijuku (pronounced like “Oh ooo chi ju koo”)is a lesser known post town because it is off the beaten path and not near a major city. This one is kind of all by itself, and thus not visited as often, but its easy enough to get there from Aizuwakamatsu (which you can learn about in our Aizuwakamatsu video) via train then a short bus ride. The town consists primarily of one long earthen street that is for pedestrians only. With the exception of one or two structures, all the buildings date back hundreds of years and now feature shops and restaurants along with one that is used for overnight accommodations.
The town’s charter says to the residents “Don’t sell. Don’t rent. Don’t destroy.“, thus keeping the integrity and look of the original town. At one end of the town is a small mountain which after climbing a set of stone steps leads you to the iconic view of the town overlooking its main road. Its an amazing town that can be experienced in just a couple of hours so hopefully you will get to experience it as we did and perhaps also like us, be the only western tourists in sight. How refreshingly different than many hot tourist spots in Japan these days!
Have you been to Ouchijuku? If so, let us hear from you! Would love to talk about your experience there, and be sure to watch and share our latest video.