Skip to main content

Komoro post-town and Honmachi hall、小諸宿と北国街道ほんまち町屋館


Komoro post-town in central Japan (Nagano prefecture) is on the old highway “Hokkoku-kaidou” which links Karuizawa to Niigata (at the coast of Sea of Japan). Not only daimyo lords and samurai but also ordinary people to Zenkouji temple walked on the road. Komoro was also a castle and business town. Facilities built in the Edo period (1603～1868) are utilized as shop and so on.

中山道と北陸を結ぶ北国街道は、①佐渡の金、②北陸の大名、③日本海や江戸の産物が行き交う道でした。善光寺参りの旅人も通る繁華な道です。小諸宿は城下町、商人の町として栄えました。江戸時代の建物が今も店舗などとして活用されています。いいことですね。

 

I reached Komoro from the east; the atmosphere in the old days still remains.

東側（江戸口）から小諸宿へ、宿場の雰囲気が残ります。


The building “Yora-kan” was a shop which sold lacquerware and furniture; it is an information center and a rest area at present. A former local government’s (han) vault was moved to its site.

与良館は漆器屋・家具問屋だった松屋の建物。今は、休憩所・案内所です。敷地内には小諸藩の御用金蔵の銭倉が移設されています。


The building above is a miso (soybean paste) manufacturer and seller “Sukyu”. It was established in 1674; it has modern facility.

1674年創業の味噌屋・酢九商店。近代的な工場で味噌造りを続けています。


There is a station if you go down the road in the center of the photo. The castle site is behind the station; it is rare the castle is at the lower location in the town.

駅前通りを横切り、本町へ。下ったところに駅があり、その先に小諸城址懐古園があります。小諸城は町よりも低い場所にある穴城です。


The road turns at a right angle in order to prevent cavalry from rushing forward; it worked in the old days. Including the former merchant house on the right, old buildings remain on the street “Honmachi”, which was the main street of the post-town back then.

防御機能（騎馬の突進を止める）を持つ宿場町らしく直角に曲がって、本町。右は商家の結城屋。江戸後期の建物です。ほんまち町屋館まで古い建物が残ります。宿場の中心の通りでした。


An inn “Tsutaya” established in 1657 is a gallery now. However, an inn “Tsuruya “in behind, which was established in 1682, is still a hotel even now.

1657年創業の旅籠・つたやはギャラリーなりましたが、1682年創業のつるやは旅籠を続けています。

 

 

Honmachi hall on “Hokkoku-kaidou”、北国街道ほんまち町屋館

Honmachi hall is on the right. I entered from the back side.

江戸末期創業のそば七さんの先にほんまち町屋館があります。裏庭から入館しました。


We can see Mt. Asama (active volcano, 2568 m/mountain at the right) from the backyard above. The building was a fire-proof storehouse (kura). There is an exhibition room in it.

裏庭からは川越しに浅間山（写真右側）を望めます。展示室になっている蔵（正面）に入ります。


The pillars in center were members of the castle gate; those were sold after the feudal government ended. The panels show the town history and the eruptions of Mt. Asama.

蔵には明治になって払い下げられた城門の部材が使われています。２階では、小諸の歴史、浅間山の噴火などがパネルで説明されています。


I walked toward the entrance. Miso was produced here. The building on the right was a storehouse of miso. The circle stone on the left was a part of an equipment to boil soybeans or rice, which were found in 2002 from the ground. The rails were used to bring miso products to the shop area.

玄関に向かうと右に味噌蔵、左に米を蒸したり大豆を煮たりした石の大かまどがあります。2002年の整地作業中に発見されました。レールは蔵で作られた製品を店に運ぶためのものです。


Old tools are exhibited in the storehouse. It is written “Powder Miso” on the wooden boxes. Those had been supplied to the military during the WW2, although its taste was not good. War seriously affects our diet.

味噌蔵には古い道具が展示されていますが、その中に「粉味噌」と書かれた木箱があります。１箱で600人分あり、1941年から本格的に生産されて軍部に納入されました。しかし、美味しくはなかったとのこと。戦争は食事にも深刻な影響を与えます。


The view from the entrance toward the storehouse. It was built in 1923, however, its layout is similar to the one built in the Edo period (1603～1868).

玄関から蔵方向を見た写真です。大正12年の建物ですが、帳場があり、江戸時代風ですね。

 Official website: https://machiyakan.com/  (in Japanese)



I proceeded on the old high way. It (Fujiya) is also a miso manufacturer and a seller.

街道を進みます。


The building “Kumeya” on the right was an inn for exalted people (wakihonjin). We can stay there even now (https://www.kumeya.com/).

右は脇本陣だった「くめや」さん。今も宿泊できます。


The building of the highest-class inn (honjin) is utilized as Italian restaurant. (Photos below were taken in November while revisiting)

本陣はイタリアンレストランとして活用されています（以下は、11月に再訪した時の写真です）。

 


Komoro Castle、小諸城

The location of the main gate is higher than the inner gate (the 3rd gate and so on). It is said the sole castle layout in Japan.

大手門から本丸に向かって下って行く穴城は、日本で唯一といわれているそうです。


There is Japanese archery hall at the site of the north bailey. The castle is famous for its autumn leaves; that's why I revisited in November.

北丸跡の弓道場。紅葉を見に再訪しました。紅葉の名所です。


We can go to the castle tower remains.

天守台に登れます。


Can you see high mountains in the center of the photo? Those were covered by snow. Although the castle site is lower than the town, we can see far away.

遠くに雪をかぶった北アルプス（写真中央、鹿島槍ヶ岳など）。穴城ですが、遠望がききますね。


A soba-noodle restaurant is contacted to the stone wall; the stone wall is seen from inside (upper left). The castle site has been a place for citizens to relax after the feudal era.

本丸石垣に接して建つ蕎麦屋・山城館。出汁蕎麦が名物で美味しい。明治以降は、庶民の憩いの場です。

 

 

Visited in August and November, 2025




 

Previous post (brewery in the neighboring city): Osawa Sake Brewery Folklore Museum、大澤酒造民俗資料館（長野県）

Next post (iconic temple on the old highway and ex-merchant house: Zenkouji (temple) and Chokkura-Oirai hall、善光寺とちょっ蔵おいらい館

 

Museums in post-towns between Komoro and Zenkouji (links)、小諸宿と善光寺の間の宿場町（リンク）

 


ラベル:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

江戸・明治の性愛の楽しみ

性愛については、赤裸々に書き残す人は少なく、隠語で書かれていることが多いといいます。そりゃそうですよね。でも、いくつかの本には、江戸・明治の人々が性愛をどのように楽しんでいたかが書かれています。私が読んだのはほんの数冊ですが、その中から紹介します。ここでは、ビジネスとしての性愛や同性愛ではなく、日常の男女間の性愛を対象にします。人間に欠かせない楽しみですもんね。 ところで、今回は、英文を作れませんでした。私の英語力ではとても対応できない内容なので、英文作成に協力していただけるようでしたら、ぜひ、お声かけ下さい。 （ This article “Fun of   the eros （性愛） ” is written only in Japanese , because it is too difficult for me to write in English due to lack of vocabulary about eros. If you kindly help me, please let me know. ） 古代に書かれた出雲国の風土記には、忌部の温泉に老若男女が集まって市を作り「燕楽（ウタゲ）」をしたことが書かれています。また、常陸国の風土記には、筑波山でカガイがあり、春と秋に、飲食物を携えて山に登り、自由に情交を結んだことが書かれています（「宴と日本人」、伊藤幹治、 1984 ）。男女が楽しむのは、自然の成り行きですね。   江戸･明治の性愛の形 次に、「売笑三千年史」（中山太郎 _1956 ）から、どんな形で性愛を楽しんでいたかを紹介します。この本は、神話の時代から明治時代までの売笑の歴史を書いた一級品の本だと思います。「売笑」は、「報酬を得るために多数の異性に対し、継続的に許す」ということだそうです。売笑の説明に入る前に、一般の人々の性愛活動について書かれています（第一章、第二節「婚姻の種々相と売笑の発生的関係」）。 「江戸・明治の性愛の形」（本項）は、主に、そこから紹介します。   【共同婚（乱婚）という習俗】 女性は特定の男性に独占されていませんでした。男性も、どの女性とでも OK でした。 天下の五奇祭のうち、洛北大原社の雑魚寝、近江筑摩社の鍋被り祭り、越中鵜坂社の尻たた...
Post a Comment
Read more

Life in Edo, old Tokyo (published in 1959) 江戸生活事典

Very good : ★★★  (this is a long and interesting page)   Various entertainments at Edo or old Tokyo in the  Edo period are written in this book. I found a lot of fun here. I focus on the fun of common people, so I put aside the fun of Daimyo loads , samurais and rich merchants in this book.   In terms of people’s fun, Edo was the paradise definitely. There were a lot of funs in day time and night time. Edo attracted people especially from the country side. I started from my favorite chapter. 　三田村鳶魚（えんぎょ）の著作を事典にしたもの。江戸の生活の様々な楽しみが書かれていて、発見が多い。ここでは庶民の楽しみにフォーカスし、大名、武士、大店の主の楽しみは拾わなかった。 　 人の楽しみの面からみると、まさに、江戸はパラダイス。昼も夜も出会いも、いろいろなものがあって、人を地方からも引き付ける。 気に入った章別にピックアップしていく。  Edo or old Tokyo was very busy city, 熈 代勝覧＠三越前 Chapter 7: Daily lives、 風俗概要 (1)   Seasonal recreation、遊楽  Seasonal recreations are written at first. On the New Year’s Day, people went out to see the sunrise. Also winter is a good season to see Mt.Fuji . ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Great Yoshiwara (published in 2018)　吉原はスゴイ

吉原はスゴイ‐江戸文化を育んだ魅惑の遊郭（堀口茉純、 2018 ） 人の楽しみの発見度： Excellent ★★★  This book is written about an authorized red-light district Yoshiwara which was in Edo (old name of Tokyo). There are many pictures in this book and you can understand all about Yoshiwara by this small book.  The author is a pretty actress who is devoted to Japanese history especially Edo city (https://hoollii.com/). She tries to depict the contribution of Yoshiwara to foster Edo culture. Yoshiwara by Kunisada,  新よし原尾州楼かり / 国貞 http://www.ndl.go.jp/landmarks/details/detail274.html?sights=shinyoshiwara;tokyo=taito 、国会図書館 この本は、ほぼすべてのページに浮世絵などの挿絵がある。 　前書きで、著者は遊女たちが過酷な労働環境で性的サービスを提供したというブラックな事実を踏まえつつも、江戸文化の形成に貢献したポジティブな側面を伝えたい、と記している。 　著者の堀口さんは、執筆時 35 歳の和服が似合う美しい方、 2008 年、江戸文化歴史検定 1 級に史上最年少の 25 歳で合格し「お江戸ル」と称している（ https://hoollii.com/ ）。遊郭・吉原の全てをコンパクトに纏めた良い本だ。 1.     What is Yoshiwara?  Yoshiwara was north of Edo city and surrounded by  rice fields. The  area was ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Travel of Isabella L. Bird in 1878, part 1　イザベラバードが見た明治初期の日本（1）

Arrival and visiting Asakusa 日本着、そして浅草訪問   Isabella arrived at Yokohama, near Tokyo, in May of 1878.   She travelled northern Japan including Hokkaido and western Japan including Ise mainly by rickshaw , then she left Japan in December. This diary was written as letters to her younger sister.  She described in detail, so we can understand what happened clearly.  She was 46 when she came to Japan, and she hired Japanese lad as an interpreter. I admire her coura ge because she was the first lady foreigner to visit inland.  This book is stored up in many libraries and Manga version was issued.  She observed various things such as behaviors of Japanese people, plants and stratums meticulously and she elaborated on scenic beauty. I leave those matters to other authors, I would like to focus on the fun of old Japanese which she saw in Japan.   The photo of Isabella in 1896 from the exhibition “Voyage of Unbeaten Tracks in Japan” 、1 896 年の...
Post a Comment
Read more

Kaidou (Highway) and Shukuba (Post town) 街道と宿場

  “Kaidou” is translated as a highway or a walking route. There were no cars in the Edo period , and there were almost no cars in the Meiji period too, so pedestrians and horses moved on the highway mainly. “Kai” is a city or town, and “dou” is a road, so “kai-dou” means not only a highway but also towns where people touched and treated travelers from other area.  Unno post town on the kaidou, 北国街道・海野宿 Ohuchi post village, 会津西街道・大内宿 　Kaidous were constructed from the 7 th century. Kaidous were systems which supported transportation and logistics, and they were rest area for travelers. From the 17 th century, Tokugawa shogunate developed the network of the kaidous very well, so people could travel across Japan easily.   In the Japanese textbook for high school students, kaidous were explained as follows. - Tokugawa shogunate developed the kaidou system. They managed the five major kaidous directly; their starting points were Edo(Tokyo).   There...
Post a Comment
Read more