It is said that Kanaya is a birth place of Nihon-zaemon, one of the most famous thieves in Japanese history. He stole money and expensive ornaments only from rich people. Nihon-zaemon was tall & nice looking, and it is said that he was always wearing very fashonable cloths when he did his "job".

After Taisee hokan, or the Restoration of the Imperial Rule in 1868 (see Meiji Restoration), there were so many samurai who supported the last shogun, Tokugawa Yoshinobu. However, their lords returned their lands to the Meiji government and thus, they lost their jobs and had to spend miserable lives. The government took measures for the relief of the previous samurai: reclaiming a huge virgin land to plant tea. It was not an easy job at all, but their efforts were rewarded; the land became the biggest tea field with the size of 5,000 hectare in Japan.

• Distance from Nihonbashi: 207.3 km

Shimada

Nissaka

Tokaido route

• Go back to Tokaido 53 tsugi

• Go home

• Go back to Hiroshige's page