Kisokaidô: Akasaka - Station 56

Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 stations of the Kisokaido: Station Akasaka (58th print) (Akasaka)

© Trustees of the British Museum

Akasaka was a large village where the Tanigumi Pilgrimage Road branched off the Kisokaido Road, was an important port located on the Kuise-gawa River. Lanterns, along the riverbank still here today were illuminating the water and the quays after dark. Hiroshige depicts a bridge over a tributary on the outskirts of the station, its thatched roofs (1) partly visible on the right. Dusk is falling and travellers (2) wrapped in blankets against the chill make their way across the bridge (3). A young woman (4) crosses the bridge in the opposite direction.

This print was not modified.

(Source: The 69 stations of the Kisokaido, Sebastian Izzard, Brazillier 2008)

Akasaka station with Mt.Rinsho and Myojyorin-ji temple in "Kisoji Meisho Zue" or Illustrated album of the famous places along the Kiso road (1805)

A bridge at the entrance of a village ca.1860

A bridge ca. 1880 (Canal Koganei in Tokyo)

A Japanese style bridge in a park ca.1880

A bridge in the Japanese Alps ca. 1885 (near Hakone)

A bridge near Mt.Fuji ca.1895

A bridge in the mountains ca.1875

And now ?

The road between Mieiji and Akasaka is flat, crossing a rural landscape which is changing rapidly. Housings are being built for commuters to Nagoya who cannot find accommodation within their budget closer to the city.

In the Kisoji Meisho Zue by Rito Akisato and illustrated by Nishimura Chuwa in 1805, one had to take a ferry to cross the Kuise-gawa River as the bridge in Hiroshige’s print did not exist. Its construction had just been completed in 1840 when Hiroshige depicted it.

The name Akasaka, literally « red slope » comes from the colour of the muddy road before it was paved. The slope in the centre of the village is still there, but the only place where red earth can be seen is the local quarry. It started to be exploited in the 16th century and established the renown of the city. The stones were taken by boat to Nagoya and the coast. A section of the port has been repaired and the lanterns and the quays renovated. Akasaka is now within the city of Ogaki, an important castle town which belonged to Oda Nobunaga. The castle destroyed in 1945 has been rebuilt. Not far from Ogaki, Sunomata Castle was also an Oda castle which has been recently rebuilt and is now an interesting museum dedicated to castles and their architecture. At Akasaka, an old shop dated 1880 and named “57” as Akasaka was the 57th station (if Nihonbashi is #01) and a tea house whose origins date back to the 17th century are still in business. Outside of Akasaka, the Mino-koen Park and the Myojyorin-ji Temple, known for its old Buddha statue in a cave near the summit of Mt.Kinsho are worth a visit.

(Note: The 36^th station on the Tokaido road linking Edo and Kyoto along the sea is also named Akasaka. It is a different station.)