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*''Japanese'': 海野宿 ''(Unno juku)''
*''Japanese'': 海野宿 ''(Unno juku)''
Unno-juku was a [[post-station]] town in [[Shinano province]] (modern-day [[Nagano prefecture]]) which sat along the [[Hokkoku Kaido|Hokkoku Kaidô]] ("Northern Provinces Highway"). Many [[Edo period]] buildings still stand in Unno today.
Unno-juku was a [[post-station]] town in [[Shinano province]] (modern-day [[Nagano prefecture]]) which sat along the [[Hokkoku Kaido|Hokkoku Kaidô]] ("Northern Provinces Highway"). Many [[Edo period]] buildings survive in the town; as of 1992, 29 out of 84 buildings in the town dated to the Edo period. Further, according to some estimates, as many as 92% of the residents (as of 1992) were descended from Edo period residents of the town.
The town was established as an official post-station in [[1625]], in conjunction with the expansion of the ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' system, and the concomitant need to alleviate the overwhelming demand for lodgings at [[Tanaka-juku]], which had previously been the chief post-town in the area. After a flood in [[1742]] destroyed much of Tanaka, Unno was named the chief post-town of the area. The Fujita family, a family of wholesalers, were named heads of the ''[[honjin]]'' (inn for elite travelers). Two ''[[waki-honjin]]'' (secondary official lodgings) were also established; by 1814, the town stretched some 715 yards along the highway; around the same time, as of 1791, the town had a population of 540 people, in 84 households. At that time, some 63 buildings in the town served travelers in one capacity or another; these included 25 stables and 34 accommodations for horse handlers. Some 23 buildings served as inns.
Tanaka-juku recovered by the 1770s, and petitioned to regain its former status from Unno; the debate went on for some 30 years, until ultimately in [[1807]], it was decided that both towns could be considered official post-towns and could maintain ''honjin''.
