Last additions - Soka-juku post town 草加宿 |

Model of AKOS shopping complex in front of Soka Station.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka Station history.Mar 10, 2023
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Push button phone widely used in Japan until the early 1990s.Mar 10, 2023
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Pink pay phone in Japan. Now obsolete. Took only ¥10 coins.Mar 10, 2023
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Old telephone still widely used in Japan until the 1980s.Mar 10, 2023
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Old telephone.Mar 10, 2023
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Old telephone from 1931. Soka started telephone service in 1918. Only 60 phone numbers at first. By 1953, 431 people had a telephone number.デルビル磁石式壁掛電話機Mar 10, 2023
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Army helmetMar 10, 2023
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Japanese soldier's bag and boots from 1930s.Mar 10, 2023
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Japanese soldiers returning from the war gave these gifts to their well-wishers. From the 1930s. These are ceremonial sake cups. 兵隊盃Mar 10, 2023
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About Heihachiro Okawa.Mar 10, 2023
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Movie actor from Soka named Okawa Heihachiro (1905–1971) (aka Henry Okawa) who made it to Hollywood. He was in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" movie. 大川 平八郎Mar 10, 2023
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History of the museum/school.Mar 10, 2023
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History of the museum/school.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka Elementary School was built in 1926. Two-story, ferro-concrete building with six classrooms. Architect was Soka-native Okawa Isamu who even attended Soka Elementary School (right photo)..Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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Former classroom used as a meeting room.Mar 10, 2023
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2nd floor hallway.Mar 10, 2023
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On the 2nd floor, Hinamatsuri Girl's Day dolls.Mar 10, 2023
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On the 2nd floor, Hinamatsuri Girl's Day dolls.Mar 10, 2023
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2023 is the Year of the Rabbit.Mar 10, 2023
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On the 2nd floor, Hinamatsuri Girl's Day dolls.Mar 10, 2023
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On the 2nd floor, Hinamatsuri Girl's Day dolls.Mar 10, 2023
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On the 2nd floor, Hinamatsuri Girl's Day dolls.Mar 10, 2023
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On the 2nd floor, Hinamatsuri Girl's Day dolls.Mar 10, 2023
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Leather footwear and yukata kimono are also made in Soka.Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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Senbei production equipment for roasting and drying.Mar 10, 2023
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Senbei production equipment.Mar 10, 2023
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Senbei production equipment for mochi pounding.Mar 10, 2023
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Factory equipmentMar 10, 2023
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About Emperor Meiji's visit to Soka in 1876 and 1881 when he was traveling to Tohoku or Hokkaido.Mar 10, 2023
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Basho and Kawai Sora visited Soka-juku on March 27, 1689.Mar 10, 2023
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Replica scroll painting of Matsu Basho and Kawai Sora who visited Soka in 1689.Mar 10, 2023
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Documents related to traveling on the Nikko Kaido.Mar 10, 2023
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A few implements from the Okawa Honjin lodge.Mar 10, 2023
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About the ancient dugout canoe excavated from Ayase River in 1929.Mar 10, 2023
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About the dugout canoe from 5,300 years ago.Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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Remains of an ancient dugout canoe excavated from Ayase River in 1929.Mar 10, 2023
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Ancient pottery found in Soka.Mar 10, 2023
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Scale model of the Okawa Honjin lodge in Soka-juku.Mar 10, 2023
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Following Senju-juku (Adachi Ward, Tokyo), Soka-juku was the second post town on the old Nikko Kaido Road from Tokyo (Nihonbashi) to Nikko in Tochigi Prefecture. However, no original buildings from Soka-juku remain. Part of the Nikko Kaido road remains, and a few monuments mark the location of the Honjin VIP lodges and road marker. This is a scale model of Soka-juku displayed in the local history museum.Mar 10, 2023
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Scale model of Soka-juku post town along the Nikko Kaido. The red tag on the lower left is where the folk history museum is.Mar 10, 2023
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First floor exhibition room.Mar 10, 2023
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First floor exhibition room displays old farming equipment.Mar 10, 2023
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First floor hallway.Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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Museum hallway looks like a school hallway. When you enter the museum, they want you to sign your name on the reception sheet.Mar 10, 2023
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Floor layout on the 1st and 2nd floors. The old classrooms are now exhibition rooms for local history and artifacts.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka folk history museum entrance. Free admission.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka folk history museum. 草加 歴史民俗資料館Mar 10, 2023
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Soka folk history museum used to be Soka Elementary School built in 1926. New school buildings were built to replace this old building which opened in 1983 as a local history museum.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka folk history museum is near the old Nikko Kaido. 歴史民俗資料館Mar 10, 2023
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Original road marker in Soka-shuku, Saitama on the Nikko Kaido. 道標元標Mar 10, 2023
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Original road marker reinforced with steel. Rare remnant of Soka-juku on the Nikko Kaido. 道標元標Mar 10, 2023
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Original road marker in Soka-shuku, Saitama on the Nikko Kaido. 道標元標Mar 10, 2023
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Okawa Honjin lodge monument in Soka-juku, Nikko Kaido Road. There was also another Honjin in Soka-juku. 大川本陣跡碑Mar 10, 2023
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Honjin lodge monument in Soka-juku, Nikko Kaido Road. 大川本陣跡碑Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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What the old Nikko Kaido Road looks like today.Mar 10, 2023
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About Tofukuji's bell tower.Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji's bell tower dragon wood carvings. Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji Temple in Soka, Saitama.Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji's bell tower is noted for wood carvings. Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji's bell tower.Mar 10, 2023
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Mar 10, 2023
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About Tofukuji Temple Hondo main hall wood carvings. Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji Temple Hondo main hall in Soka, Saitama. The temple is noted for wood carvings on this main hall. (Not to be confused with other temples named "Tofukuji.") 東福寺Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji Temple was first built in 1606 by Okawa Zusho who once served the Hojo Clan in Odawara, Kanagawa.Mar 10, 2023
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Tofukuji Temple gate.Mar 10, 2023
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Way to Tofukuji Temple.Mar 10, 2023
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What the old Nikko Kaido looks like today. Nikko Kaido was one of the five main roads from Edo (Tokyo) during the Edo Period (17th to 19h centuries). Nikko was important for having the splendid mausoleum for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun.Mar 10, 2023
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I think this is a bus stop on the Nikko Kaido.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka senbei rice cracker. ¥90Mar 10, 2023
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Another Soka senbei shop. There are over 60 senbei shops in Soka.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka senbei shop on the old Nikko Kido Road.Mar 10, 2023
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Shinmei Shrine 神明神社Mar 10, 2023
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Soka-juku Shinmei-an tourist info center closed on March 21, 2022. The staff moved to the tourist info center near the Basho statue in Fudaba-kashi Park. 草加宿神明庵Mar 10, 2023
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How to make Soka senbei rice crackers. At least 10 steps.Mar 10, 2023
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Soka senbei rice cracker birthplace monument in Osen Park, Soka, Saitama. Soka was a rice-growing area and farmers first made rice crackers as a snack. They were later sold to travelers when Soka-juku was established and became a cottage industry. They also used soy sauce from Noda. 草加せんべい発祥の地の碑Mar 10, 2023
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Sora Kawai traveled with Haiku poet Matsuo Basho for most of Basho's Oku-no-Hosomichi poetry journey on foot to Tohoku and Hokuriku Regions in 1689.Mar 10, 2023
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Catfish sculpture on a small office building in Soka, Saitama.Mar 10, 2023
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Statue of Kawai Sora, Matsuo Basho's apprentice and travel companion for Oku-no-Hosomichi. This statue is at the intersection leading to the old Nikko Kaido Road. It's across the bridge from the Basho statue at the watchtower.Mar 10, 2023
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Statue of Kawai Sora (河合曾良), Matsuo Basho's travel companion for his Oku-no-Hosomichi five-month journey on foot to Tohoku and Hokuriku Regions. Statue built in 2008 to mark Soka's 50th anniversary.Mar 10, 2023
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