Traditional Japanese Inn (Ryokan) in the Post-Station Town – Akasawa Shuku

江戸屋

清水屋

石畳

大阪屋

Akasawa shuku had been known as a post-station town with an approach to the temple connected with the holy places, Mt. Minobu and Mt. Shichimen, since the Middle Ages.

At the beginning of the Edo period, women were prohibited from entering to Mt. Shichimen. However, because of the achievement by Oman-no-kata, a concubine of Ieyasu TOKUGAWA, the prohibition was finally abolished. Since then, making groups of worshipping to Mt. Minobu had been thriving and the number of worshippers had been increased. Due to this, Akasawa turned into a very lively post-station town in some businesses such as Hatago (lodges for travelers), Goriki (guides with carrying the climbers’ luggage), Kago (a palanquin for carrying people), and Ninsoku (labors who do heavy lifting). From the Taisho to Show periods, the number of worshippers were extremely increased because of opening the Minobu Line and the post-station town reached its peak.

However, according to the improvement of detour road and of convenient transportation, the number of people using inns in the post-station town had been drastically decreased since around 1955. You can see the old appearance of row of Koujyu-shuku (the inns for those worshippers in the town) and the stone pavement still now, so that you might be able to feel like walking in a historical landscape. This area was certified as The Nation’s Preservation District for Groups of Historic Buildings in 1993.