Shukuba were post stations during the Edo period (1603-1868) located on the Edo Five Routes or their sub-routes, which started to be constructed by Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara and completed by his successors. Among the five routes, the Tokaido was the first and the most important route, after which the Nakasendo, the Koshu Kaido, the Oshu Kaido and other sub-routes were constructed.

These post stations were also the places where travelers could rest on their journey. The lodgings in the post stations included honjin (Rest areas and lodgings built for use by samurai and court noble), sub-honjin (a spare Honjin used when regular Honijn were full) and hatago (inns for the commoners).

Toiyaba (administration offices that helped manage the post town) were established in each of the post station. One of the most important roles of toiyaba was to handover the official percels and letters to the next post station.

As it was hard to receive profits from these official functions, the Tokugawa Shogunate provided perquisites such as tax exemptions, rice rationing and money lending, making it possible for the post station facilities to stay open. In the the Meiji period (1868-1912), when the railroad was developed and transportation conditions changed, the number of travelers using these post stations grradually declined, as did the prosperity of the post stations.