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53 Stages of Tokaido “Chiryu”
by Hiroshige Utagawa
The time when the town of the pond with carps and crucian carps (the present Chiryu City) was initiated as a stage on Tokaido was in the 6th year of Keicho (1601), a year after the Sekigahara War. Equipped with a citadel having Chiryu Shrine as the guardian god from the ancient days, Chiryu used to be a farming village where horse fairs were held. By taking advantage of such conditions, Chiryu began to play the role of a stage that carried important duties related to transportation on Tokaido.
(Picture left) “Yatsuhashi in Chiryu” in Tokaido Sights by Toyokuni Utagawa the Third
The “53 Stages of Tokaido” was not completed until the 10th year of Kan’ei (1633). During those 30 years, many revisions were made to the stage regulations.
(Picture / Right)
“Chiryu”/53 Stages Collaboration by Hiroshige Utagawa
With regard to Chiryu being appointed as a stage, it is believed that Kogyobu Hikosaka and Jubei Okubo and others who inspected Tokaido according to an order from Ieyasu after the Sekigahara War may have considered the following factors.
Geographically, traveling along the road through Chiryu was easier and faster because of the numerous flat areas in comparison to the Kamarura Route.
(Picure left) List of Unique Bridges in Japan, “Old Drawing of Yatsuhashi in Mikawa” by Hokusai Katsushika
More people used the pass through Chiryu as the pathway from Narumi to Okazaki. (In the 3rd year of Tensho (1575), and with some repairs to the Tokaido Route implemented by Nobunaga Oda, Princess Asahi, the younger sister of Hideyoshi, was transferred from the Toyotomi side to the Tokugawa side at the West Field of Chiryu, when she got married in the same year. As such, the traffic was switching from the Kamakura Route to the Tokaido Route.)
Enshrinement of the prestigious Chiryu Shrine in which shrine parishioners from more than twenty neighboring villages have faith, and the grand-scale horse fair and cotton fairs had made Chiryu an important place for the local economy.
Based mainly on these reasons, the “Chiryu Stage” was designated as the 39th stage from Edo in the 53 Stages of Tokaido.
(Picutre right) 53 Stages of Tokaido “Chiryu” by Kuniyoshi Utagawa
Roads were repaired according to an order from the government and rows of pine trees were arranged in the 9th year of Keicho (1604). Rows of trees created shades for summer while helping to protect from the wind and snow during the winter, and the leaves and branches pleased travelers.
(Picture left) 53 Stages of Tokaido “Summer Horse Fair at Chiryu” by Hiroshige Utagawa
Afterward, grooming of the rows of trees, the construction of small dikes, and building fences between rice fields and other fields were implemented during the year of Horeki (1751). The grooming of trees was re-implemented during the year of Anei (1772), and the premises were set at over 9 shaku (272.7 cm). Currently, 170 pine trees still remain along the area of approximately 500 m in length, maintaining the appearance of the ancient Tokaido.
(Picture Right) “Chiryu” in 53 Stages of Tokaido by Hiroshige Utagawa
Side roads are featured on both sides of the row of trees in this painting, and this is a reminder of the vibrant horse fairs during the Edo Period.
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