The is a historic Japanese distance marker akin to a

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway, railway line, canal or border, boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks like Mileage sign, mileage signs; or they c ...

, comprising a pair of earthen mounds located in what is now part of the Kibitsu neighborhood of

Kita-ku, Okayama is one of four Wards of Japan, wards of Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The ward has an area of 451.03 km2 and a population of 295,312. The population density is 655 per square kilometer. The name means "North Ward." The wards of Okay ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

in the

San'yō region The San'yō Region (山陽地方 ''San'yō-chihō'') is an area in the south of Honshū, the main island of Japan. It consists of the southern part of the Chūgoku region, facing the Seto Inland Sea. The name ''San'yō'' means "southern, sunny ( ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1928.

Overview

During the

Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

established ''ichirizuka'' on major roads, enabling calculation both of distance travelled and of the charge for transportation by ''

kago A is a type of litter used as a means of human transportation by the non-samurai class in feudal Japan and into the Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era ...

'' or

palanquin The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...

. These mounds denoted the distance in '' ri'' (), typically to

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, which sprung up around the bridge of the same name that has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...

, the "Bridge of Japan", erected in

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

in 1603. They were typically planted with an ''enoki'' or

Japanese red pine ''Pinus densiflora'', also called the Japanese red pine, the Japanese pine, or Korean red pine, is a species of pine tree native to East Asia and Siberia. In China, the plant is known as 赤松 (pinyin: chì sōng, literally "red pine"). Distrib ...

to provide shelter for travelers. Since the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

, most of the ''ichirizuka'' have disappeared, having been destroyed by the elements, modern highway construction and urban encroachment. In 1876, the "Ichirizuka Abolition decree" was issued by the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

and many were demolished at that time. Currently, 17 surviving ''ichirizuka'' are designated as national historic sites. In the case of the Magane Ichirizuka, the mounds flank the San'yōdō highway which ran for a total of roughly 145 '' ri'' (approx. 350 miles) from

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

Shimonoseki file:141122 Shimonoseki City Hall Yamaguchi pref Japan01s3.jpg, 260px, Shimonoseki city hall is a Cities of Japan, city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 248,193 in 128,762 households and a pop ...

. The San'yōdō was one of the major ''

kaidō were roads in Japan dating from the Edo period. They played important roles in transportation like the Appian Way of ancient Roman roads. Major examples include the Edo Five Routes, all of which started at Edo (modern-day Tokyo). Minor exam ...

'' in western Japan and was the main route both for commercial travelers, but for ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' fulfilling their '' sankin kōtai'' obligation to have to the

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

's court in Edo on alternate years. The Magane Ichirizuka is the first milestone that can be seen after entering

Bitchū Province was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, in what is today western Okayama Prefecture. It was sometimes called , with Bizen and Bingo Provinces; those three provinces were settled in the late 7th Century, dividing form ...

from

Bizen Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the area that is eastern Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of western Japan.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Mimasaka no Kuni''" in . Bizen bordered Bitchū Province, ...

, and is located near the border between

Okayama Domain 270px, Ikeda Akimasa 270px, Auditorium of the Shizutani School 270px, Kōraku-en was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now eastern Okayama Prefecture on the island of Honshu. It controlled all of B ...

and

Niwase Domain 270px, Itakura Katsuhiro, last ruler of Niwase Domain 270px, Remnant of moats of Niwase Castle was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period Japan, in what is now central Okayama Prefecture. It controlled a small portion of ...

. Conversely, it the second marker when traveling west from Okayama. In addition, this ''ichirizuka'' also marks the starting point for the "Kibitsu-Kompira Route, a pilgrim's road connecting the important shrines of

Kotohira-gū (also known as , , or Konpira Shrine in English) is a Shinto shrine in the town of Kotohira, Kagawa, Kotohira in Kagawa Prefecture, Kagawa, Japan. This shrine is patron of sea ship transport and sailors. It is a Kotohira Shrines, Kotohira Shrin ...

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

with Kibitsu Shrine in Bizen. Originally,

Japanese black pine ''Pinus thunbergii'' (syn: ''Pinus thunbergiana''), the black pine, Japanese black pine, or Japanese pine, is a pine tree native to coastal areas of Japan (Kyūshū, Shikoku and Honshū) and South Korea. It is called () in Korean language, Kore ...

trees were planted on the north side of the highway, and ''enoki'' trees on the south side, but today only the mound and stone marker remains. The Magane Ichirizuka is about seven minutes on foot from

Kibitsu Station file:Jr-kibitusen5332.JPG, 270px, Station platform during 2006 is a passenger railway station located in Kita-ku, Okayama, Kita-ku of the city of Okayama, Okayama, Okayama, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. It is operated by West Japan Railway Company ...

on the

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, ...

Kibi Line is a railway line in Okayama Prefecture, Japan, operated by the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The nickname used by JR West in maps and timetables is the . Stations All stations are in Okayama Prefecture. Rolling stock * KiHa 40 seri ...

References

External links

Okayama city official site

Okayama Prefecture home page
{{in lang, ja Bitchū Province Okayama Historic Sites of Japan History of Okayama Prefecture Ichirizuka

Overview

See also

References

External links