Words-and-Pictures: The Ichirizuka at Hatajuku

Note: This selection of Words-and-Pictures was made on September 14, 2001, as I walked on the Old Tokaido.

Hatajuku is on the ascent from Odawara to Hakone in Kanagawa Prefecture. These are Stations #9 and 10 respectively (from Tokyo) on the Old Tokaido Highway. You can read about my visit to Hatajuku in my Logbook.

These are the best ichirizuka I've seen to date. What's an ichirizuka? They're first mentioned in my Logbook for September 7th, which reads in part:

The Tokaido was measured in ri--about four kilometers, the distance a man (apparently except me) can walk in an hour....Each ri along the highway was marked on either side by mounds of earth planted with trees. These were called ichi-ri-zuka--"one-ri-mounds."

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This is the approach from Hatajuku, which is a mere 30 meters downhill. Note the especially rough ishidatami (cobble-stone paving).

This view is from the left mound toward the right, from slightly downhill. The sideroad I'm standing on leads into a park.

The other way, looking from right to left. I'm now slightly uphill from the mounds.

The photo on this plaque shows how the mounds looked before restoration.

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Posted September 27, 2019