Home / Kōshū Kaidō / Kōfuyanagimachishuku
Kōfuyanagimachishuku 甲府柳町宿
| Kōshū Kaidō (甲州街道) | Station 38 of 44 · Nihonbashi (Edo) → Kamisuwa (joins the Nakasendō) |
|---|---|
| Present-day location | Kōfu, Yamanashi, Japan |
| Prefecture | Yamanashi (Chubu region) |
| Distance from Nihonbashi | About 132 km (by the historical station tables) |
| Next station | 韮崎宿 — about 14.0 km on |
| Coordinates | 35.66066° N, 138.57248° E |
The Kōshū Kaidō post town, located in YamanashiXX178X.
Overview
Kōfu Yanagimachi-shuku took its name from Yanagimachi, the district below Kōfu Castle where the station's functions — the honjin (official inn), the toiyaba (transport agency) and the like — were concentrated. The station comprised one honjin, one waki-honjin (secondary official inn), one toiyaba and 21 hatago inns. When the Kōshū Kaidō was first laid out, Kōfu was the road's terminus; in 1604 (Keichō 9) the road was extended onward to Shimosuwa-shuku on the Nakasendō.
After the fall of the Takeda clan, Tokugawa Ieyasu built a new Kōfu Castle where Maizuru Park stands today, and the Edo-period Kōshū Kaidō took a course along the south side of the castle. In the Edo period this station was called Shimo-Fuchū, while Tsutsujigasaki of the Takeda era was called Kami-Fuchū, or Ko-Fuchū. According to the station register (Ōgai-chō), Kōfu Yanagimachi-shuku consisted of ten districts: 城屋町, 和田平町, 下一条町, 上一条町, 金ノ手町, 工町, 八日町, 柳町, 片羽町 and 西青沼町. A wooden gate (kido) on the Edo side stood in Jōya-machi (around today's Jōtō 5-chōme). Yōka-machi (around today's Chūō 3-chōme) had the kōsatsuba, the official notice-board site, also known as Fuda no Tsuji. From the corner turning south out of Yōka-machi began Yanagimachi, the heart of the station, where the honjin and the toiya wholesalers stood — today's north–south streetscape running from Chūō 2-chōme to 4-chōme.
Around the station, streets where craftsmen gathered — Uo-machi (fish dealers), Okeya-machi (coopers), Kaji-machi (smiths) and others — took shape, and they are still inherited as street names today. Remains of the moats and earthen ramparts that enclosed the samurai quarter and the townsmen's quarter can also be seen.
East of the station, near today's Sakaori Station, the Ōme Kaidō joins the road. West of the station, near today's Marunouchi district, the Sunshū Ōkan (Minobu-dō) joins it.
References
JTTB Publication Service in 2004. "I can walk properly in Kōshū Kaidō." P.88-91. Yamanashi "The Way of History"
Text adapted from the Japanese Wikipedia article 甲府柳町宿, whose full text was translated into English for this guide by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Station facts cross-checked with the road station lists (Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0).