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| When I’ve been there, it was cherry blossoms’ time … |
So, now we’ve returned Itabashi-mitsuke 板橋見付 traffic light from Odawara Castle Hayakawaguchi Park 小田原城早川口. “Mitsuke” is an old Japanese which meant the gate for a citadel. It was the west end of Odawara Sogamae 小田原総構え defense system. The mort and wall system spreading north-south crossed here with Tokaido 東海道, aka Route 1, running east-west. Standing at the crossing, the direction to JR Odawara Station is inside the citadel. The opposite direction of Route 1 to Hakone Mountains is outside. Till about 150 years ago, feudal lords of Odawara Castle had the observation post inside and outside of the gate for his subordinates to station 24/7. The office had well-staffed armouries preparing for the battle. Immediately inside the gate along Tokaido were rows of attached houses to the families of infantry of firearms. Their mission was to be the frontline immediately after the advancement of enemy forces to the citadel. The area around Itabashi-mitsuke also have large sanctuaries of Buddhist temples and Shintoism shrine. Immediately inside the mort system there are Igami Shrine 居神神社, Daikyuji Temple 大久寺, Koenji Temple 光円寺, Denjoji Temple 伝肇寺, and Gyokudenji Temple 玉伝寺. Outside of the gate are Hon’noji Temple 本応寺, Shofukuji Temple 生福寺, and Kotokuji Temple 興徳寺, etc. In the 21st century, they have sleepy open spaces surrounded by small forest and equip graveyards and playgrounds for pre-school babies. But before, they were allocated the role as garrisons for infantrymen called for duty from their neighboring villages … The sanctuaries inside the citadel have stories connected to the lords of the castle and the other yesteryear celebrities of Japanese history. They are now mentioned by Odawara’s tourists’ guide. If you’re interested in Japanese history to this level, they could be an interesting destination, I guess. But today, we stick to FORESTS!
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| Daikyuji Temple |
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| Koenji Temple |
Standing again at Itabashi-mitsuke crossing in front of the public toilet, please turn your back on Route 1. Could you see a not-so-wide community road in front of you cranking to the left? It’s the original Tokaido, Route 1. Do you notice we cannot see what’s there after the road winding? The design of the road is deliberate. It prohibits visitors from the west observing the situation inside the Gate. The mort-and-wall system was “constructed” from here to Hakone direction along Tokaido … er if you’re imagining Odawara’s old wall system looked like that for Avila or Samarkand, you’ve missed the point. Japanese citadel design fully utilizing geography and vegetation of that particular area. Odawara Sogamae was the role model.
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| Entering
old Tokaido from Itabashi-mitsuke. In this photo, we even could not recognize the road is turning left. |
When we walk the old Tokaido from Itabashi-mitsuke to Hakone direction, we are simply strolling peaceful housing area with occasional entrances for sanctuaries. But until recently the area was mansions district. The start was Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922), the third and the ninth Prime Minister of Japan. In his very old age when he was still busy navigating Japanese politics, his health was deteriorating rapidly. He (and his family maybe) thought calm winds from Hakone Mountains and Sagami Bay would do nice for his body. He bought large acreage of farmlands to build a mansion on the slope of a hill spreading along Tokaido, near Hakone Itabashi Station. He died there in 1922. When Duke Yamagata moved his residence from Tokyo to Hakone Itabashi, many rich celebrities also bought lands, built manors and had their life of Japanese high society there. After 1945 this kind of privileged world ended, but the erection of mansions was simply taken over by the construction of houses for commoners, which created the current scenery there. The point is about the farmlands before PM Yamagata came. As now the old Tokaido runs in the private housing area, it’s a bit difficult to see the geography ... Please poke in the branch roads to the north from the Old Route. We can notice the roads have steep inclination. This is what the feudal lords wanted for their defense system. Before PM Yamagata, the area was farmland surrounded by forests and temples, cultivated on a very sharp slope. The arrangement of farmlands and forests prohibited a large troop from climbing up the hill at once. And the level of precipitation was not a laughing matter. Let‘s experience it.
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| The old Tokaido, 2025 |
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| A branch road goes up. |
We enter Old Tokaido from Itabashi-mitsuke, follow the cranking, and go under the railway bridge of Tokaido Shinkansen. Immediately after the bridge, there is a commuter road climbing up along the railway. Let’s take this route. Soon the road is for pedestrians’ only with steps. Beyond the Shinkansen railway on our right, we can see another hill covered by a forest which is the sanctuary of Igami Shrine. When people constructed Shinkansen railway, they bulldozed a part of the forest and the hill continued from the sanctuary. The steps we take here are remnants of a forest road before-Shinkansen. The left of our steps is a sanctuary of Hon’noji Temple whose graveyards are situated on a terrace like spaces built on the slope. Imagine you’re a part of troops of intruders proceeding up this steep slope wearing heavy armory. You finish one task of going up to terrace-like structure. The end of a terrace was always another petit cliff to clamber. You repeat this exercise until the ridge. And the terrace was in a forest which obstructed the climbers’ sight. Finally, at the ridge you might think your travail to reach the main part of the castle was over. Fat chance.
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| Shinkansen track is fenced along the commuter road. |
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| And the road climbs up … |
When the steep pedestrian road arrives at the top of the hill, we meet with a commuter road running through residential area. Please turn left. This direction goes the top of the outermost “wall“ for Odawara Sogamae defense system. We can immediately notice the route is still going up. Administerially speaking, on our right is Shiroyama township 城山, and on our left is Itabashi township 板橋. Itabashi side is a cliff where we can see between houses the panorama of Hakone Mountains. And these houses are built on terrace like terrain porched on the steep slope. Before it became the rows of houses, this slope was covered by forest hiding this ridgeway from the sight of visitors climbing the hill straight from Tokaido. I mentally imagine how it looked like before. Virutual reality gogle must be very handy now. Anybody developing it forthe present day visitors? On our right is Shiroyama township. “Shiroyama“ means “Castle Hill“ in Japanese. i.e. This side is within the defense system of Odawara Sogamae, and was equally covered by dense forest. As we proceed upwards, we meet a place where now a housing construction site. This point was once an armory for guns and bows+arrows.Odawara side worriers waited the enemy on the ridge way, and shoot them down using the weapon they stored here. Now it‘s a peaceful suburbia ... Eventually, we start to see forests on our right. There we can meet more preserved forest-aka-wall structure. Let‘s go there next week!
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| Ridge
way goes up along the sanctuary of Denjoji Temple. |
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| Former
armory, but as of April 2025 the place was waiting for carpenters to build a house. |
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| Viewing Hakone Mountains from the ridge way. |
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| Well, we go up … |
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| A condo was built one step down from the ridge way. |
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| A
branch slope rapidly goes down to Route 1. Could you see a forest in this photo? It’s a remnant of defense system for the castle. |
For enquires about sightseeing in Odawara City,
General Incorporated Association, Odawara Tourism
一般社団法人 小田原市観光協会
250-0042 350-1, Hagikubo, Odawara City
〒250-0042 小田原市荻窪350番地の1 小田原合同庁舎内2階
TEL:0465-20-4192
FAX:0465-20-4194
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