Ano Milestone

Ano Ichirizuka: A Rare Surviving Pair of Edo-Period Milestones on the Old Tokaido

Tucked away in a quiet residential corner of Toyoake City in Aichi Prefecture, the Ano Ichirizuka (Ano Milestone Mounds) might easily slip past the notice of a passing traveler. Yet these two modest earthen mounds, facing each other across the line of the old Tokaido highway, are something extraordinary. They are among the very few ichirizuka in all of Japan that still survive on both sides of the road, just as they were laid out more than four centuries ago by order of the first Tokugawa shogun. For visitors curious about how Edo-period travelers actually navigated the long road between Kyoto and Edo, this small site offers a remarkably direct connection to that lost world.

What Is an Ichirizuka?

During the early Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate set out to standardize Japan's network of highways. To help travelers gauge distance, mounds of earth called ichirizuka were built in pairs on either side of the road at intervals of one ri (roughly 3.93 kilometers). Each mound was typically planted with a tall tree—most often an enoki (Chinese hackberry), sometimes a pine—so it could be seen from afar and would also serve as a shaded resting spot. These were, in effect, the road signs and rest stops of their day.

A charming local legend explains why the enoki tree became so common: when the magistrate in charge of the project asked Tokugawa Ieyasu what kind of tree should be planted, Ieyasu is said to have replied "ee ki ni sei"—"make it a good tree." The official supposedly mistook this for "enoki ni sei"—"make it an enoki"—and the rest is history.

The History of Ano Ichirizuka

Ano Ichirizuka was built in 1604 (Keicho 9), in the very first wave of milestone construction that followed Tokugawa Ieyasu's establishment of the gokaido—the five great highways radiating from Nihonbashi in Edo. The work here was carried out by two of his retainers, Nagai Hakugen and Honda Mitsushige. Counting outward from Nihonbashi along the Tokaido, this is the 86th ichirizuka, positioned between the post stations of Chiryu-juku and Narumi-juku.

For more than 250 years, the two mounds watched over a steady flow of daimyo processions, pilgrims, merchants, and ordinary travelers making their way along the busiest highway in Japan. As the Edo period gave way to modern times, most ichirizuka along the Tokaido were lost to road widening, farmland reclamation, or simple neglect. Ano Ichirizuka is one of the rare survivors—and uniquely, both of its paired mounds remain.

Why It Was Designated a National Historic Site

On December 16, 1936, Ano Ichirizuka was designated a National Historic Site (kuni shitei shiseki). The reason is straightforward but compelling: among all the ichirizuka along the Tokaido in Aichi Prefecture, this is the only place where both the east and west mounds survive in their original positions on either side of the road. The west mound is roughly square in plan, with a base of approximately 7.9 by 8.5 meters and a height of about 2.1 meters; the east mound is similar in size. This pairing is what makes the site historically irreplaceable—it preserves the spatial logic of the Tokaido itself, since the gap between the mounds (around 20 meters) hints at the original width of the highway corridor.

The original enoki trees that once topped each mound have long since gone, but two pine trees still stand on the east mound today, recalling something of the silhouette an Edo traveler would have recognized from a distance.

Highlights for Visitors

The site is small and unassuming—it takes only a few minutes to walk around—but rewards those who pause and look closely.

Both sides of the road, intact. Standing between the two mounds and looking from one to the other, you are essentially standing in the footprint of the old Tokaido. There are very few places in Japan where you can do this so directly.

The east mound's pine trees. While not the original enoki, the surviving pines on the east side are a reminder that ichirizuka were never meant to be bare earth—they were leafy landmarks, visible from a distance.

Stone marker and signage. A stone marker and an interpretive board on top of the east mound explain the site's history. The signage is in Japanese, but the visual layout speaks for itself.

The neighborhood itself. The mounds sit along a stretch of the old Tokaido that is now lined with houses, but the gentle curve of the lane and the modest scale of the road still feel distinctly pre-modern. Walking the route in either direction adds context to the visit.

Access and Practical Information

Ano Ichirizuka is located in Ano-cho, Toyoake City, in Aichi Prefecture, roughly between Nagoya and the city of Toyota. The nearest railway station is Zengo Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Main Line, from which it is about an 11- to 15-minute walk. By car, the site is about five minutes from the Toyoake IC on the Isewan Expressway.

There is no on-site parking lot and no public restroom, so visitors arriving by car are advised to plan accordingly. The site is freely open at all times and there is no admission fee. Because it is a small historic site embedded in a residential area, please be respectful of nearby homes when visiting.

What to See Nearby

One of the great pleasures of visiting Ano Ichirizuka is that it sits in an area dense with Edo- and Sengoku-period history. Combining the milestone with one or two of the following sites makes for a satisfying half-day or full-day itinerary.

Okehazama Battlefield Site (Okehazama Kosenjo Densetsuchi). About 3 kilometers to the west lies the legendary site of the 1560 Battle of Okehazama, where Oda Nobunaga famously defeated Imagawa Yoshimoto. Like Ano Ichirizuka, it is a designated National Historic Site.

Senjinzuka. A burial mound for those who fell at Okehazama, also nationally designated, located within Toyoake City.

Kutsukake Castle Ruins (Kutsukake-jo). A peaceful park preserving the earthworks of a small castle with deep ties to the Imagawa, also in Toyoake.

Arimatsu Historic District. A short distance west, this preserved Edo-period townscape is famous for Arimatsu shibori tie-dyeing and offers an entirely different feel of Tokaido travel culture.

Sogenji Temple. A historic temple in Toyoake associated with mourning the dead of Okehazama.