Okegawa-shuku

Okegawa-shuku (桶川宿, Okegawa-shuku^?) was the sixth of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto during the Edo period. It was located in the present-day city of Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

The name "Okegawa" appears as the name of a locality in Musashi Province in late Sengoku period documents. The area was noted for safflower products and textiles, as well as agricultural products. Okegawa-shuku was 10 ri, 14 chō (approximately 40.8 kilometers) from the starting point of the Nakasendō at Nihonbashi, and was at about the limit a traveler could walk in one day, so was a popular station for the first night out of Edo.

Per a 1843 guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways (道中奉行, Dōchu-būgyō^?), the town stretched for about 1.0 kilometers along the highway, with a population of 1444 in 347 houses, and boasted one honjin, two waki-honjin, and 36 hatago. Okegawa-shuku was also famous for its large number of meshimori onna and had upwards of 20 brothels. The station was also famous for its Inari Shrine, and also hot springs which were claimed to be effective against a number of ailments.

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