Numazu-juku

Numazu-juku in the 1830s, as depicted by Hiroshige in the Hoeido edition of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1831-1834)

Numazu-juku (沼津宿, Numazu-juku) was the twelfth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

History

Numazu was the eastern-most post station within Suruga Province, and was the castle town of the daimyo of Numazu Domain. During its peak in the Edo period, Numazu-juku had over 1,200 buildings, including three honjin, one sub-honjin, and 55 hatago. Modern Numazu city has a local history museum displaying the history of the area.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts travelers walking along a tree-lined river bank, towards Numazu-shuku, under a huge full moon in a deep blue sky. One of the travelers is wearing the white robes of a pilgrim, and is carrying a huge Tengu mask on his back, indicating that his destination is the famed Shinto shrine of Kompira on Shikoku.

Neighboring post towns

Tōkaidō

Mishima-shuku - Numazu-juku - Hara-juku

Further reading

• Carey, Patrick. Rediscovering the Old Tokaido:In the Footsteps of Hiroshige. Global Books UK (2000). ISBN 1901903109
• Chiba, Reiko. Hiroshige's Tokaido in Prints and Poetry. Tuttle. (1982) ISBN 0804802467
• Taganau, Jilly. The Tokaido Road: Travelling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. RoutledgeCurzon (2004). ISBN 0415310911