Special Exhibition: "Itabashi" Connecting Edo and Kanazawa - Daimyos who Visited Itabashi-juku on Nakasendo Road

　The route from Edo to Kanazawa was connected by the Hokkoku Kaido and Nakasendo roads via Oiwake-juku in Shinano. Daimyo (feudal lords) whose fiefdoms included Kaga, Echigo, and Shinano used the Nakasendo and Hokkoku Kaido roads for their shifts to and from work. It is said that it took an average of 12 nights and 13 days to travel from Kaga to Edo. The feudal lords made their way to Edo while taking a break at the inn.

　Itabashi-juku was the last stop before heading for Edo and Nihonbashi. Most of the feudal lords used the main and side lodgings at Itabashi-juku, while the Kaga clan used the sub-yashiki in Hirao, Itabashi-juku, to receive messengers from their families and vassals at the Edo residence, and to prepare their costumes. Itabashi-juku played a role as a gateway to Edo.

　This exhibition introduces the feudal lords of the Kaga, Takada, and Matsudai clans who traveled between Edo and their hometowns on the shifts between the two countries, and the Itabashi-juku that welcomed them. We hope this exhibition will give you an opportunity to see how people lived in those days and to think about Itabashi as a "bridge" between Edo and Kanazawa.