A Surviving Milestone on the Old Tōkaidō
Eighty ri from the bridge at Nihonbashi in Edo, a low diamond-shaped mound sits beside the old Tōkaidō in the Ōhira district of Okazaki. This is the Ōhira Ichirizuka, one of the distance markers that the Tokugawa shogunate ordered built along its highways in 1604. A ri measured roughly four kilometres, and a mound was raised at every interval on both sides of the road, usually topped with a hackberry tree to give travellers shade and a clear landmark.
The shogunate appointed two officials to oversee the work along the Tōkaidō and left the actual digging to local authorities. At Ōhira the task fell to Honda Narishige, whose father Honda Shigetsugu held the nearby land of Nishi-Ōhira. Shigetsugu was a blunt and formidable retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu, remembered by the nickname Oni-Sakuza, or "Demon Sakuza." His son raised the mound that survives here, set on the road between the post stations of Okazaki and Fujikawa.
Why It Became a National Historic Site
Okazaki once had four of these mounds, at Motojuku, Fujikawa, Yahagi, and Ōhira. Road building and modern development took the others, and by the early twentieth century only the Ōhira pair remained. Then in 1928 a road improvement cut away the mound on the far side, leaving a single survivor. That sole remaining mound is what the national government recognised on 21 December 1937, when it designated the site under the heading of remains connected with transport and economic activity.
The value lies in what the mound represents. The Edo highway network carried people, goods, official mail, and the long processions of the daimyō. Distance markers were the practical backbone of that system, telling travellers how far they had come and setting a rough measure for the wages of porters and packhorses. Few of these earthwork milestones outlasted the railways and the widening of the roads. The one at Ōhira is the only ichirizuka left in Okazaki, and one of a small number that endure anywhere along the Tōkaidō.
What to Look For
The mound rises about 2.4 metres, its base a rounded diamond roughly 7.6 by 8.5 metres. A hackberry grows from the top, as the practice of the period prescribed. It is not the original. A hackberry said to be 350 years old once crowned the mound and gave it the classic outline of a Tōkaidō milestone, until a typhoon brought it down in 1953. The tree you see now is its successor, planted afterward and grown tall.
Look at the base. In 1970 the worn site was tidied with a stone wall about a metre high, a chain set around the perimeter, and rounded stones laid across the ground inside. The work keeps the shape legible where weather and time had begun to erode it.
The mound carried duties beyond marking distance. A notice board was sometimes set before it on a fenced stone footing, making the spot a kōsatsuba where official proclamations were posted. During the years of alternate attendance, when daimyō travelled in procession to and from Edo, the local domain sent a messenger to wait here and pay formal respects as each lord passed. For that reason it was also known as the goshishaba, the place of the messenger.
Around the Site
Okazaki rewards a longer visit. The city is the birthplace of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and Okazaki Castle, rebuilt in the riverside park at its centre, anchors a district of museums and walking routes tied to his life. To the east, the old post town of Fujikawa keeps a stretch of the Tōkaidō lined with pines and preserved house fronts, which gives a sense of the road this mound once measured.
The land around Ōhira has its own story. The small Nishi-Ōhira domain was later held by the family of Ōoka Tadasuke, the magistrate whose fair rulings became the stuff of popular legend. To reach the mound, take a Meitetsu bus from Higashi-Okazaki Station toward Ōhira and get off at Ōhira-nishimachi, a ride of about twenty minutes; the site is a short step from the stop.
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Q&A
- What is an ichirizuka?
- It is an earthen distance mound built along the Edo-period highways. From 1604 the shogunate raised one at every ri, about four kilometres, measured from Nihonbashi in Edo, planting a tree on top to mark the spot and shade travellers.
- How far is Ōhira from Edo?
- It is the eightieth ri from Nihonbashi, roughly 320 kilometres along the old road. The mound sits between the post stations of Okazaki and Fujikawa.
- Is the hackberry tree the original one?
- No. The first tree, reckoned at about 350 years old, fell in a typhoon in 1953. The present hackberry was planted after that and is the second generation.
- Can I visit it freely?
- Yes. It is an open roadside site with no admission fee and no fixed hours. The mound is set behind a low stone wall and a chain, so it is viewed from the perimeter rather than climbed.
- How do I get there?
- Take a Meitetsu bus from Higashi-Okazaki Station toward Ōhira and alight at Ōhira-nishimachi, about twenty minutes. The mound is just south of the stop.
Basic Information
| Name | Ōhira Ichirizuka (大平一里塚) |
|---|---|
| Location | Ōhira-chō, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | National Historic Site |
| Date designated | 21 December 1937 |
| Type | Tōkaidō distance mound (ichirizuka), the 80th ri from Nihonbashi |
| Origin | Built around 1604, attributed to Honda Narishige |
| Dimensions | About 2.4 m high; diamond-shaped base roughly 7.6 by 8.5 m |
| Tree | Second-generation hackberry (the original fell in 1953) |
| Access | Meitetsu bus from Higashi-Okazaki Station to Ōhira-nishimachi, about 20 minutes |
| Admission | Open roadside site, no fee |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Ōhira Ichirizuka
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/401/1434
- City of Okazaki, Official Website: National Historic Site, Ōhira Ichirizuka
- https://www.city.okazaki.lg.jp/bunka/torikumi_bunka/1004568/1004592/1004726/1004729.html
- Okazaki Odekake Navi (Okazaki Tourism Association): Ōhira Ichirizuka
- https://okazaki-kanko.jp/point/459
- Nishi-Mikawa Gurutto Navi: Ōhira Ichirizuka
- https://www.nishimikawanavi.jp/spots/detail/472/
Last verified: 2026.06.14