Ouchujuku is about 20 km south of Aizu. Take the train in Aizu, low Yunokami Onsen and then take a taxi into town. The trip is 15 minutes.
In the days when horses were the only means of transport and cargo took much longer to merge two points on a map and routes that had every few miles on a post. Many of these post ends grew into towns. Some of them have disappeared but others have managed to endure.
In the trade route in the Edo Period communicated with Nikko Aizu, Aizu-Nishi Route-Kaido, we find an ex-post people Ouchijuku name. At the time of weighing shogunate many demands on passengers and one of them was the ban on horses. So they walked long distances and so many of these people were born that supplied food and shelter.
As I said before many have disappeared but there are still some survivors and Ouchijuku is one of them. The entire town has been restored to how it looked in the mid-nineteenth century and modern services, electricity and telephone, for example, have been placed underground so that nothing alters the atmosphere of that time.
Prinicpal street is unpaved and is bordered by houses and narrow buildings and thatched with straw. Today they house a variety of shops, from restaurants and bars, gift shops through to minshuku, small, traditional hostels. The main inn is much bigger than the rest is called Honjin, and was the site where they spent the night high government officials.
The Honjin is located on the street prinicpal and is now a museum will serve to showcase the elegant and traditional atmosphere of a house of its kind in the historical period in question with utensils, clothes and dishes. In addition, people in the streets sel is a sanctuary and a temple. The temple is at the end of the street prinicpal and have to climb some stairs, but from the top, a wonderful panoramic view. The shrine on the other hand is hidden in a cedar forest, the pure and relaxing postal imaginable.
Tags: Aizu-Nishi Route-Kaido, Nikko Aizu, Ouchijuku, south of Aizu, Town Preserved in Time, Yunokami Onsen