Hiratsuka-juku
{{short description|Seventh of the 53 stations of the Tōkaidō in Japan}}
File:Tokaido07 Hiratsuka.jpg in the Hōeidō edition of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō (1831–1834)]]
{{nihongo|Hiratsuka-juku|平塚宿|Hiratsuka-juku}} was the seventh of the fifty-three stations (shukuba) of the Tōkaidō. It is located in the present-day city of Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
History
Hiratsuka-juku was first established in 1601, at the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu.[http://hirahaku.jp/hakubutsukan_archive/sonota/00000083/image/00013234.pdf 11 Hiratsuka-juku]. Hiratsuka City Museum. Accessed November 5, 2007. In 1651, though, it merged with part of the nearby village of Yawata. In 1655, it was renamed "Shinhiratsuka-juku."
During a census in 1843, the post station was found to have a population of 2,114 people and 443 houses, which included one honjin, 1 sub-honjin and 54 hatago.
The classic ukiyo-e print by Andō Hiroshige (Hōeidō edition) from 1831–1834 does not depicts the post station at all, but instead shows a zig-zag road above marshy fields, with Mount Fuji appearing behind Shonan Daira in the background. One of the travelers is a professional courier running as part of the mail service offered along the Tōkaidō. Relays of runners could convey a message from Edo to Kyoto in 90 hours.
Neighboring post towns
;Tōkaidō
:Fujisawa-shuku - Hiratsuka-juku - Ōiso-juku
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
{{commonscat}}
- Carey, Patrick. Rediscovering the Old Tokaido:In the Footsteps of Hiroshige. Global Books UK (2000). {{ISBN|1-901903-10-9}}
- Chiba, Reiko. Hiroshige's Tokaido in Prints and Poetry. Tuttle. (1982) {{ISBN|0-8048-0246-7}}
- Taganau, Jilly. The Tokaido Road: Travelling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. RoutledgeCurzon (2004). {{ISBN|0-415-31091-1}}
{{Tōkaidō}}
{{coord missing|Kanagawa Prefecture}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiratsuka-Juku}}
Category:Stations of the Tōkaidō