Kisokaidô: Banba - Station 62

Utagawa Hiroshige - Series of the 69 stations of the Kisokaido: Station Banba (64th print) (Banba)

© Trustees of the British Museum

A view of the station in the early morning with its main street lined with one-story shops. On the left, next to the station boundary (1), a party of three horsemen discusses the day’s business before setting off. Beyond them, a shop displays the lozenge “hiro” crest (2) of Hiroshige and is inscribed with 歌川(Utagawa), the name of the school with which he is associated. On the other side of the street, the proprietor of a restaurant watches a traveller on foot, who wears a sedge hat and a green cloak. On the restaurant hangs a lantern (3) which advertises 一膳めし (single serving of rice) and 酒さかな (sake sakana) and a panel (4) which reads 林 (kin) for Kinjudo, the publisher and his name いせゃ (Iseya). The roofs of the houses have different styles : the restaurant has a wooden roof with shingles held down with stones, other houses have simple wooden roofs and others have thatched roofs.

This print was not modified, but its quality deteriorated as printing progressed.

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

Renge-ji temple at Banba in 1805 in "Kisoji Meisho Zue" or illustrated album of the famous places along Kiso Road (1805)

A village on Nakasendo Road in 1888 (maybe Banba)

And now ?

From Banba, the Nakasendo road runs parallel to the Lake Biwa. But it is hidden by low hills and we will see it at the next station Toriimoto. At Otsu, the last station of the road, we will be on its banks. Banba is now part of Maibara city, a strategic location between the mountains and an important transportation junction for goods coming from the lake and going either North or East. In 1843, there were one honjin, one waki-honjin and ten inns.

During the Kamakura period (1192-1333), power was in the hands of the Hojo Clan, based near what is now Tokyo. But after 1320, their hold on power weakened when the Ashikaga Clan rebelled with the Emperor’s support. The Hojo lost several battles and some prominent members of the clan committed suicide in Banba’s Renge-ji Temple. The clan was wiped out in 1333 in Kamakura and power was transferred to the Ashikaga Clan whose leader became shogun. The pagoda in the Renge-ji and the small statues remind us of this episode.

Travelers could also go from Banba to Otsu by sailboat instead of walking. This was cutting the trip by two days, but was expensive and reserved to the wealthiest. This was replaced in 1870 by a steamer service which was discontinued when the railway line opened around 1910.