Kōnosu-shuku

Keisai Eisen's print of Kōnosu-shuku, part of the The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō series

Kōnosu-shuku (鴻巣宿, Kōnosu-shuku) was the seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō. It is located in the present-day city of Kōnosu, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

History

Until 1602, Kōnosu-shuku was located in the present-day city of Kitamoto, but when the Nakasendō was established during the Edo period, the post town was moved north to its current location. The original village’s name was changed to Moto-kōnosu (本鴻巣村 Motokōnosu-mura), while the original rest area’s name was changed to Moto-shuku (本宿). During the Meiji period, the rest area’s name was again changed to Kita Moto-shuku (北本宿), which was adopted as the name of its train station, which was opened in 1928, and the village was renamed Kita Moto-shuku ten years later.

It has been said that Kōnosu-shuku was moved because it was too close to the following Okegawa-juku, but Okegawa-shuku is closer to Ageo-juku than it ever was to Kōnosu-shuku. It is also assumed that Kōnosu-shuku was moved because it was too far from Kumagai-shuku, but the real reason is unclear today.

When Kōnosu-shuku was established in its new place, the Nakasendō was not the only road running through it. It also had roads connecting to Matsuyama (present-day Higashimatsuyama), Nin (present-day Gyōda), and Kisaichi (present-day Kisai). Relative to other stations along the Nakasendō, it was a rather large station. There was one honjin, two sub-honjin, and 58 other minor inns.

At the entrance to the post station is Shōgan-ji, a large temple in the Jōdoshū sect.

Neighboring post towns

Nakasendō

Okegawa-shuku - Kōnosu-shuku - Kumagai-shuku

(Fukiage-shuku was an ai no shuku located between Kōnosu-shuku and Kumagai-shuku.)