Sightseeing Routes

What is the Koshu-kaido Highway?

• The Koshu-kaido Highway is one of the Five Highways developed in the Edo period (1603-1867) and was the fifth to be completed. The approximately 210-kilometer road connected Nihonbashi in Edo (currently Tokyo) to the post town of Shimosuwashuku on Nakasendo Highway. Initially, it primarily served as a road for the military linking Edo Castle and Kofu Castle, but there is also a theory that it was an evacuation route for when Edo Castle was in danger.
  During the middle and later years of the Edo period, the road was not only frequented by travelers and intellectuals, but it also gained importance as a distribution route for transporting agricultural products from the Koshu (currently Yamanashi) and Shinshu (currently Nagano) to Edo. The road developed as a major route supporting the lives of people in Edo.

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The Birth of Naito Shinjuku

• Naito Shinjuku was built as a new post town between the starting point of Koshukaido Highway, Nihonbashi and the first post town, Takaido-shuku since there was a long distance between them.
  In 1697, Takamatsu Kihei (who later took the name of Kiroku), the headman of Asakusa, together with four like-minded others petitioned the shogunate government to open a post town on a part of the Naito family's land (currently, the north side of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden), and Naito Shinjuku was established in 1699. Rather than the village becoming a post station where travelers changed horses, the samurai family land was appropriated by the government and newly developed to establish the post town, which was distinctive from other post towns.

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The Origin of the Name

The new post town was called Naito Shinjuku because it was built on land returned to the shogunate government by the Naito family, who was the feudal lord of the Takato Domain in Shinano Province. The name also reflects that it was newly constructed on the Koshukaido Highway ("shinjuku" means new post town). This is the origin of the current place name, Shinjuku, as well. The name of Naito remains even today in the area called Naitomachi, located near Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.

The Closure and Re-opening of the Post Town

In 1718, the decision was made to close down Naito Shinjuku. Various theories on the reason for its closure include that few people were using the Koshu-kaido Highway, and that it was subject to the policing of public morals as a part of the Kyoho Reforms. Later, in 1772 restoration of the post town was approved 54 years after its closure following repeated appeals.

The Bustle of Naito Shinjuku

• The post town of Naito Shinjuku was developed from around the Shinjuku 1-chome intersection on the west side of Yotsuya Okido (currently, the Yotsuya 4-chome intersection) to the Oiwake area (currently, the Shinjuku 3-chome intersection).
  That scene is depicted in "Yotsuya Naito Shinjuku," one of the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo drawn by the ukiyo-e artist, Utagawa Hiroshige.
  Many horses and cattle passed through Naito Shinjuku because it was situated at the junction of the Koshu-kaido and Ome-kaido highways, and the vitality of this distribution hub is evident in the illustration.

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