3,444 bytes added
, 22:30, 29 September 2016
*''Japanese'': 二川宿 ''(Futagawa-juku)''
Futagawa-juku was the 33rd of the 53 stations of the [[Tokadio|Tôkaidô]] [[highways|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<!--紅林権左衛門--> 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 Nobufusa|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.