Ichirizuka
Ichirizuka (一里塚) are historic Japanese distance markers akin to
ri (3.927 kilometres (2.440 mi)) to Nihonbashi, the "Bridge of Japan", erected in Edo in 1603.[3] Ichirizuka were encountered and described by Engelbert Kaempfer, c.1690: "serving as a milestone are two hills, facing each other, which are raised up on both sides of the road, and planted with one or more trees."[4][note 1]
Establishment
The
palanquin.[5] These mounds, to be maintained by "post stations and local villages", were one component of the developing road infrastructure, which also included bridges and ferries; post stations (both shukuba, and the more informal ai no shuku); and tea-houses (chaya).[6] However, the main aim was "official mobility, not recreational travelling": the movement of farmers and women was discouraged, and a system of passports and barriers (関所) maintained.[6] By marking the distance from Edo rather than Kyoto,
establishing a symbolic point of origin for all movements, the Tokugawa made of mile markers what they would later make of checkpoints: powerful reminders of the government's geopolitical ubiquity and efficacious tools in its appropriation of space.[3]
Ichirizuka were important enough to be found on the well-known "Proportional Map of the Tokaido" by printmaker Hishikawa Moronobu (d. 1694).[7] A traditional poem allegorically compares the ichirizuka that mark distance to the Kadomatsu marking the years of a person's life.[8]
Survival
With the
designated for protection as national Historic Sites.[11] Of the two within Tokyo, that at Nishigahara was once threatened by a road-widening project; a movement to save it led by industrialist Shibusawa Eiichi, the "father of Japanese capitalism", is commemorated in a monument beside what is now Hongō-dōri (本郷通り).[5][12] (35°44′50″N 139°44′28″E / 35.74714731°N 139.74111289°E
)
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ichirizuka.
Notes
- ^ "Zu einem Meilenzeichen dienen zween gegen einander stehende Hugel, welche zu beiden Seiten des Weges aufge worfen und mit einem oder mehr Baumen bepflanzt sind" (Geschichte und Beschreibung von Japan)
References
- ^ "垂井一里塚" [Tarui Ichirizuka]. Gifu Prefecture. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ "Shöno (Station #46)". Honolulu Museum of Art. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-824-83117-2.
- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. Archived from the originalon 24 April 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ a b "Tokyo Cultural Properties Database: Nishigahara Ichirizuka". Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Retrieved 3 July 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ ISBN 0-415-31091-1.
- ISBN 9780470674253. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
- ISBN 9781440083921.
- Toyoake City. Archived from the originalon 8 August 2011. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ "Tokyo Cultural Properties Database: Shimura Ichirizuka". Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Retrieved 3 July 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Database of National Cultural Properties (search term: 一里塚)" (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
- ^ "二本榎保存之碑" [Japanese Hackleberry Preservation Stele] (in Japanese). Kita Ward. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2012.