Ōtsu-juku, Post station at Nakasendō route in Ōtsu, Japan.
Ōtsu-juku is a historic post station along the Nakasendō route situated near Lake Biwa, featuring traditional architecture and stone-paved paths. The site connects to the main thoroughfare of Hacho-dori street and displays the typical layout of an Edo-period station.
This station was established during the Edo period as the sixty-ninth and final stop of the Nakasendō route connecting Edo and Kyoto. It grew as a busy trading point where merchants and travelers rested during their journeys.
The station housed two honjin and seventy-one hatago inns where travelers experienced Japanese hospitality and local customs. Visitors today can see how these accommodations were organized along the street.
The site is easily reached from Oiwake Station by train, and the surroundings are flat and walkable on foot. The stone paths are level and easy to navigate, making it simple to stroll along the historic street.
The Hashirii teahouse, known for rice cakes, was purchased in 1915 by painter Hashimoto Kansetsu as a villa and later transformed into the Buddhist temple Gesshin-ji. This conversion shows how travelers' rest stops evolved into spiritual spaces.
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