was the fourth of the fifty-three stations

53 Stations of the Tokaido

The are the rest areas along the Tōkaidō, which was a coastal route that ran from Nihonbashi in Edo to Sanjō Ōhashi in Kyoto.-Stations of the Tōkaidō:...

 of the Tōkaidō

Tokaido (road)

The ' was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name....

. It is located in Hodogaya-ku

Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama

is one of the 18 wards of the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2010, Hodogaya Ward had an estimated population of 205,887 and a density of 9,400 persons per km². The total area was 21.91 km².-Geography:...

 in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture

Kanagawa Prefecture

is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Occasionally, it is also written as .

History

Hodogaya-juku was established in 1601, and it was the western most post station

Shukuba

were post stations during the Edo period in Japan, generally located on one of the Edo Five Routes or one of its sub-routes. They were also called shukueki . These post stations were places where travelers could rest on their journey around the nation...

 in Musashi Province

Musashi Province

was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...

 during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

. The honjin

Honjin

thumb|250px|The honjin at [[Inaba Kaidō]]'s [[Ōhara-shuku]]. is the Japanese word for an inn for government officials, generally located in post stations during the later part of the Edo period.-Evolution of Honjin:...

still belongs to the same family today as the one that owned it when it was first opened. Additionally, there is a stone Buddha statue

Buddharupa

Buddharūpa is the Sanskrit and Pali term used in Buddhism for statues or models of the Buddha.-Commonalities:...

 that travelers often prayed to for safety while traveling along the Tōkaidō.

The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts a bridge over a stream, with two porters carrying a closed kago

Kago

A ' is a Japanese type of litter, suspended by a single crossbeam, carried by two men, usually used to transport one person at a time. The front and back of the kago is always covered; the sides can be left open, or encased by folding screens. This should not be confused with the more elaborate...

towards a village on the other side.
By the bridge is a soba

Soba

is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle . Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...

 restaurant with waitresses standing in front beckoning travellers to enter.

Neighboring post towns

Tōkaidō

Kanagawa-juku

Kanagawa-juku

was the third of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in Kanagawa-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is close to Kanagawa Port...

 - Hodogaya-juku - Totsuka-juku

Totsuka-juku

was the fifth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It was the eastern-most post station in Sagami Province. It is now located in Totsuka-ku in the present-day city of Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.-History:...

Minor routes, including the Kanazawa-Kamakura-dō (金沢鎌倉道), the Hachiōji-dō (八王子道) and the Ōyama-dō (大山道), branched off of the Tōkaidō at Hodogaya-juku.