Kumagai-shuku (熊谷宿,Kumagai-shuku) was the eighth of thesixty-nine stations of theNakasendō highway connectingEdo withKyoto during theEdo period. It was located in the present-day city ofKumagaya,Saitama Prefecture,Japan.
Kumagai-shuku began as a temple-town outside the Buddhist temple of Yūkoku-ji (熊谷寺), which dated from theHeian period. Thekanji which make up the temple name can also be read asKumagaya orKumagai. Kumagaya Naozane was a notedKamakura period samurai who served underMinamoto no Yoritomo.
Kumagai-shuku became formalized as apost station on the Nakasendō under theTokugawa shogunate in 1603. Per an 1843 guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways (道中奉行,Dōchu-būgyō), the town has 1715 buildings, with a population of 3263, and boasted twohonjin, onewaki-honjin and 42hatago[1]
From theMeiji period, the area around Kumagai-shuku flourished as a producer ofbarley andsilk.[2]
Kumagai was 16.4 kilometers fromKōnosu-shuku and due to the distance anai no shuku,Fukiage-shuku was located in-between the two stations. However, many travelers preferred to travel on toFukaya-shuku for the night, as it was famous for its large number ofMeshimori onna and numerouschaya, whereas the previous station, Kumagai-shuku had neither.
Most of what remained of Kumagai-shuku was destroyed by in theBombing of Kumagaya in World War II. The site of one of thehonjin is commemorated by a stone monument.
Keisai Eisen'sukiyo-e print of Kumagai-shuku dates fromc. 1835–1838. This complicated composition is set at a fork in the highway, with a sign pointing in the direction ofOshi Castle in one direction and Fukaya-shuku in the other. A way-side tea-house is located in the fork of the road, advertisingudon noodles andankoro (a sweet bean paste). A wealthy travelers in apalanquin is arriving together with his servant, and a guest at the tea house is being serviced by a waitress. A pack-horse man, naked to the waist, is waiting with his horse. The horse has a blanket with the wordTake, advertising "Takenouchi" the owner of "Hoeidoh", the publishers of the series of prints. In the far right is a stone statue ofJizō Bosatsu, protector of travelers.
36°08′40″N139°23′04″E / 36.14444°N 139.38444°E /36.14444; 139.38444