北アルプスを望む千曲川河畔の宿,塩名田宿 / Shionada-shiku Post Station, on a Clear Stream

By Minakoshoh @minakotokyo

Shionada-shuku, was the twenty-third post-station, of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō-road.
Shionada-shuku is located on the eastern bank of the Shinano River, just across from Yawata-shuku. Both Shionada-shuku and Yawata-shuku were first developed under the orders of Tokugawa Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara, and then were further developed after the development of the Tōkaidō and the Nakasendō.
At its peak, the post town had about 10 minor inns, and in 1844, it was record to have two honjin and one sub-honjin.
There was a bridge which connected Shionada and Yawata, but it was washed away by a flood and never rebuilt. Instead, the river was crossed with ferry service or by fording.

Shionada-shuku, Saku-City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan.
December 2014
Olympus OM-D E-M1

塩名田宿は,中山道六十九次のうち,江戸から数えて二十三番目の宿場で,千曲川の東岸,隣の八幡宿の直ぐ向かい側にありました。
塩名田宿は,隣の八幡宿とともに,関ヶ原の戦いの後に統治権を握った徳川家康のもと宿場として設けられ,東海道,中山道の整備が進むにつれてこの宿場も発展していきました。
最盛期でも旅籠が10軒足らずの小規模の宿場だったにもかかわらず,1844年の時点では本陣と脇本陣,合わせて3軒を擁していたと記録されています。
千曲川には橋も掛けられたそうですが洪水の度に流失し、船や徒歩で渡るのが専らであったといいます。

長野県佐久市塩名田宿
2013年12月
Olympus OM-D E-M1