【Onko Chishin! Trek-trek Sketch in Nishi-ward 10】Hachioji forked road 【Onko Chishin! Trek-trek Sketch in Nishi-ward 10】Hachioji forked road
Spot information
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| Web site | https://www.city.yokohama.lg.jp/nishi/shokai/kanko/spot/tekuteku/ |
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Description
Onko Chishin! Trek-trek Sketch in Nishi-ward: Hachioji forked road
Walking on former Tokai-do Street which is located in front of Sengen Jinja shrine near Sengencho crossing and heading to Hodogaya-juku (station), you will find a three-forked road on right corner with a sign “Oiwake (forked-road)”. It is called “Oiwake of Shibou”, the point where Tokai-do Road and Hachioji Road are forked. Hachioji Road extends along Katabira River and goes through Machida and connects to Hachioji-juku (station) on Koshu-kaido Road.
In 1859 (Ansei 6), due to the opening of Yokohama port, raw silk trade became active. Raw silk was gathered from Koshu and Joshu to Hachioji and part of them were carried by horse-drawn carts or people and were delivered to Yokohama through Hachioji Road (known as Silk Road). I imagine those who carried precious raw silk felt relieved when they arrived this forked road after hard journey of crossing mountains and walking through winding roads. In this area, old “Koshinto (Koshin tower)” and “Enmei Jizo (life-prolonging Jizo)” are still worshiped and you can feel the atmosphere of the time even today.
Title, picture and writing by Taro Suzuki (Nishi ward Cultural Association)
※This is a sketch and writing published in Yokohama Public Relation Nishi ward edition since June 2013. Please be noted that there’s a possibility that information in the article may be changed.
(Published January in 2015)