庄野宿 Shouno-juku Shono-juku
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Shono-juku was the 45th of the 53 post stations of the Tokaido Road in the Edo period (1603-1686). It was in current Suzuka City in Mie Prefecture. It was in 1601 when Tokugawa Ieyasu embarked on the improvement of the existing inland trail from Edo to Kyoto as the Tokaido Road; however Shono-juku was designated as a post station in 1624, the year when the improvement was completed. As it was less than 4 km to the next Ishiyakushi-juku and people usually took other routes from the forked point in Hinaga in the east and Seki in the west, the town was rather deserted. Furthermore, most of the travelers who passed by this town only took a rest and did not stay here. For these reasons, the management of the post town was in a slump and the Shogunate decreased the number of workers and horses for official use from 100 to 50 respectively. Contrary to its unprofitable operation, the painting “Shono” by Ando Hiroshige is one of the most popular paintings in his “The 53 Post Stations of the Tokaido Road.”
- address
- Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, Japan 513-0000
- name
- Shono-juku