Arai Barrier

Arai Sekishō
新居関所

Arai Sekisho
General information
Address 1227-5 Arai, Arai-machi
Town or city Kosai, Shizuoka
Country Japan
Coordinates 34°41′40.78″N 137°33′40.73″E / 34.6946611°N 137.5613139°E / 34.6946611; 137.5613139Coordinates: 34°41′40.78″N 137°33′40.73″E / 34.6946611°N 137.5613139°E / 34.6946611; 137.5613139
Designations Special Historic Site
Website
Homepage (Jp)

The Arai Barrier (新居関所 Arai Sekishō) is the only surviving security checkpoint of several which were established by the Tokugawa Shogunate on the Tōkaidō highway connecting the capital of Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. Its official name was the Imagiri Barier (今切関所, Imagiri-sekishō)

Located between Maisaka-juku and Arai-juku, in what is now the city of Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture, the checkpoint was strategically positioned on the narrow strip of land between Lake Hamana and the Pacific Ocean, and was the only checkpoint on the Tōkaidō intended for travelers both by land and by water. All travelers were required to submit to an examination of their travel permits, and taxes were levied on commercial travelers with merchandise. The initial checkpoint, built around 1600, was destroyed by a tsunami during the Genroku period (1688-1703) and rebuilt only to be destroyed again during the 1707 Hōei earthquake. It was then moved to its current location on the western shore of Lake Hamana. The structures were rebuilt again after the 1854 Ansei-Tōkai earthquake.

The main building is a single-story structure facing south, with Irimoya gambrel sides and a tiled roof. It is long from east to west, and is divided into several rooms within.

Following the Meiji Restoration, the barrier was abolished in 1869, and its buildings were converted for use as an elementary school, followed by government offices until 1951.

In 1921, the site was recognized as a National Historic Site, and in recognition that it had only surviving Edo-period checkpoint structure remaining in the country, its status was upgraded to that of a Special Historic Site in 1955. The main building was restored in 1971, and additional buildings, such as gates and a pier, were re-created in 1998 on their original foundations as part of a museum.

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