Shukubamachi, Japanese medieval post station

In the medieval Japan, accommodation for the travelers on the main roads was offered in post station towns called shukubamachi. Besides lodging and food, a shukubamachi was also offering stores, tea houses, storage houses, couriers and staging posts for horses.

The most important post stations were located on the Gokaidō "Five Routes" connecting the Edo capital to the most important provinces. Photographed here is a picturesque post station town that survived mostly unchanged until today, Tsumago-juku, on the Nakasendo Road which connected Edo to Kyoto.