Akasaka-juku (Tōkaidō)

Akasaka-juku (赤坂宿, Akasaka-juku^?) was the thirty-sixth of the fifty-three stations of the Tōkaidō. It is located in present-day Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was only 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) from Goyu-juku, the preceding post station.

Along with the preceding Yoshida-juku and Goyu-shuku, Akasaka-juku was well known for its meshimori onna. The classic ukiyoe print by Ando Hiroshige (Hoeido edition) from 1831-1834 depicts a typical inn; the scene is divided in half by a sago palm in the center. To the right, travellers are taking their evening meal, and to the left, prostitutes are putting on make-up and preparing for the evening entertainment. Due to its reputation, Akasaka was a popular post station with many travellers.

Ōhashi-ya (大橋屋), an inn that first opened in 1649, less than half a century after the creation of the Tōkaidō, still operates today. The building it uses was built in 1716. During a census in 1733, there were 83 inns in Akasaka-juku, but only Ōhashi-ya remains today. At its peak, though, there were 349 buildings, including three honjin, one sub-honjin and 62 hatago.

Goyu-shuku was less than 2 km from Akasaka-juku, making them the closest stations on the whole of the Tōkaidō. At Sekigawa Shrine (関川神社) in Otowa, Matsuo Basho wrote the following haiku, because they were so close:

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