Unuma-juku is the 52nd post station from Edo. In the Edo era it was land of the Owari Domain; approximately 2 kilometers south, on the other side of Kiso River, sits Inuyama Castle, a national treasure.
In this post station there are shrines, stone buildings, and old houses which remind us of inns, though the surrounding area has been modernized. Machiya-kan (former Muto house) was repaired, waki honjin were restored, Uruma-iori was repaired, and important buildings for the city landscape (old houses and sake breweries) were preserved and renovated.
In addition to buildings, seseragi waterways were built, power lines were laid underground, guideboards were placed, and measures taken to make roads beautiful and safe.
These were completed no later than 2011 and Unuma-juku was reconstructed as a post station, reminding us of ancient times. Nowadays many people visit there, and it is an important tourism resource for the city.
◆From Unuma-juku to Gifu City border
For most of this portion of the course, the Nakasendo overlaps with Route 21 and its old roads, and it is difficult to see what used to be there in ancient times.
For this portion of the course the Nakasendo used to pass through the wildlands in Kakamino; but nowadays heavy traffic and shopping streets means you can hardly see what used to exist along the Nakasendo in ancient times.
Unuma-juku is approximately 17 kilometers from Kano-juku, Gifu City and there were some roadside rest stations, where travelers and horses took a break.
In particular, the roadside rest station at Shinkano near the Gifu City border flourished as a rest station along the kaido (old-days path) because Hatamoto Tsubouch had jinya in the neighborhood. Nowadays there are no houses from that period left along the street, but there are crooked kaido and stone road signs, which remind us of ancient times.
There were 3 Ichiri Zuka (milestones). It is said that there were “Yamanomae-no-Ichiri Zuka” around the intersection of Route 21 and the JR Takayama Line, but now there is only a stone statue on rocks.
As for “Rokken-no-Ichiri Zuka” and “Shinkano-no-Ichiri Zuka”, there is only a sign left.
