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Location
	Tarui-juku Location within Gifu Prefecture Tarui-juku Tarui-juku (Japan)

Tarui-juku

垂井宿
Tarui-juku; 垂井宿
post station
	Hiroshige's print of Tarui-juku, part of the Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō series
General information
Location	Tarui, Gifu (former Mino Province); Japan
Coordinates	35°22′22″N 136°31′34″E / 35.37278°N 136.52611°E
Elevation	32 meters
Line(s)	Nakasendō
Distance	437.4 km from Edo
Location
Location
	Tarui-juku Location within Gifu Prefecture Tarui-juku Tarui-juku (Japan)

Tarui-juku (垂井宿, Tarui-juku) was the fifty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It is located in former Mino Province in what is now part of the town of Tarui, Fuwa District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.^[1]^[2]

History

Tarui-juku is one of the oldest settlements on the Nakasendō. It is mentioned in 12th century accounts, but is probably much older, as it grew up around the ichinomiya of Mino Province (the Nangū Taisha and the Nara period provincial capital). Its location made it an important market town, as it was also located on an intersection of the Nakasendō with the Minoji, a 60 kilometer secondary road which connected the Nakasendō with the Tōkaidō at Miya-juku, with nine post stations. ^[3] The town thus served as a major transportation hub for western Mino Province, benefitting also from its location on the banks of the Ai River.

In the early Edo period, the system of post stations on the Nakasendō was formalized by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1602, and it became a stopping place for traveling merchants and was on the sankin-kōtai route used by various western daimyō to-and-from the Shogun's court in Edo. Tarui-juku was divided into three parts: western, middle and eastern. Its honjin was located in the middle section.

Per the 1843 "中山道宿村大概帳" (Nakasendō Shukuson Taigaichō) guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways (道中奉行, Dōchu-būgyō), the town had a population of 1179 people in 315 houses, including one honjin, one waki-honjin, and 27 hatago.

The honjin was in the middle section of the post station, and only its gate remains. Several old houses are still standing and two old inns, the Nagahama and the Kamemuraya (rebuilt in 1777) still survive.

Tarui-juku in The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Kaidō

Utagawa Hiroshige's ukiyo-e print of Tarui-juku dates from 1835 -1838. The print depicts the pine tree lined route of the highway, with a daimyō procession approaching. A station official walks in front of the procession to warn passersby to kneel to show their respect. Low stone walls mark the border of the post station, and the vanguard of the procession, wearing straw raincoats, has already crossed. The kago with the daimyō inside can just been seen in the distance. On one side of the composition is a tea house advertising Chazuke, a dish made by muring green tea over boiled rice. It also displays the mark of Hiroshige's publisher Kinjudo, and prints for sale can be seen hanging inside the building. Similarly, another open-fronted building selling prints is located on the opposite side of the road.

Neighboring post towns

Nakasendō: Akasaka-juku - Tarui-juku - Sekigahara-juku
Minoji: Ōgaki-juku - Tarui-juku (ending location)

Notes

^ Tarui-juku at the Wayback Machine (archived March 18, 2005)
^ Tarui-juku
^ Nakasendo Tarui-juku Archived 2005-03-18 at the Wayback Machine. Ibisoku Co., Ltd. Accessed July 11, 2007.

References

Izzard, Sebastian (2008). The Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaido. George Braziller. ISBN 978-0807615935.
Berna, Cristina (2019). Hiroshige 69 Stations of the Nakasendō. Missys Clan. ISBN 978-2919787661.
Kishimoto, Yutaka (2016). 中山道浪漫の旅書き込み手帖. Shinano Mainichi Shimbun. ISBN 978-4784072972. (in Japanese)
Yagi, Makio (2014). ちゃんと歩ける中山道六十九次西藪原宿~京三条大橋. 山と渓谷社. ISBN 978-4635600781. (in Japanese)