Futagawa-juku

• Japanese: 二川宿 (Futagawa-juku)

Futagawa-juku was the 33rd of the 53 stations of the Tôkaidô highway. Located in Mikawa province, within what is today the city of Toyohashi, Aichi prefecture, Futagawa was a small post-town, home to some 1,468 residents in 328 homes (as of 1843). One honjin and one waki-honjin were maintained to serve as lodgings for the daimyô and other elite figures who regularly passed through the town; thirty-eight hatagoya catered to other travelers.

Honjin

Futagawa honjin is believed to have been established in 1601, or very shortly afterward, along with the official establishment of Futagawa as a post-station of the Tôkaidô. For the first half of the Edo period, the honjin was managed by the Gotô family, whose head in each generation, Gotô Gozaemon, also served as a local village/town official, as well as being involved in festivals at Futagawa Hachiman Shrine.

However, after a severe fire in 1735, the position was given over to someone else. After another fire in 1793, the Gotô family were unable to regain their position, and Kurebayashi Kenzaemon took over the operations of the honjin for a time. Following yet another fire, towards the end of 1806, however, Kurebayashi too was forced to relinquish the position, passing it on to relatives from the Baba family. The Baba family claimed descent from Baba Mino-no-kami Nobufusa, a retainer of Takeda Shingen. They relocated from Ise province to Mikawa towards the beginning of the Edo period. The head of the family was known as Hikojûrô in each generation. They engaged in agriculture, saké brewing, and ran a store called the Ise-ya selling rice and other grains. Members of the Baba family continued to maintain the honjin from 1807, through the end of the Edo period, until 1870. The first Baba Hikojûrô to run the honjin was also known as Sôkei 宗徑; his son & successor was Hôtô 邦嶋, who was then followed by Atsunori 篤則, who ran the honjin until 1870.

The Baba family has left 33 volumes of records, covering the period from 1807 to 1866. They include lists of prominent individuals who stayed at the honjin, as well as for certain periods day-to-day records. These include several categories or groups of documents, two of which are: volumes grouped until the title go-kyûhaku sôken (御休泊早見), which are organized chronologically, day by day; and volumes collected under the title go-kyûhaku kiroku (御休泊記録), which are organized in iroha order (akin to alphabetically) by the names of the daimyô, kuge, or other figure featured in that entry. These go-kyûhaku kiroku record in which rooms or buildings each figure stayed, how many people they brought with them, the food they were served, how much they paid, what extra gifts they brought for the post-town officials, and what special gifts they were given in exchange by the post-town. Records regarding daimyô are particularly detailed, including as well accounts of actions by post-town officials & the daimyô’s representatives (e.g. the exchange of official documents); occasions when stays were extended or changed due to the weather; descriptions of where lanterns and banners were hung; and so forth.