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Kusatsu, a key post town in the Edo Period (1600-1868), is located on the cross roads of two of Japan's main roads: the legendary Tokaido highway, linking Edo or Tokyo to Kyoto and Osaka along the Pacific Coast and the Nakasendo linking Kyoto to Edo through the interior mountains.

Two main inns called honjin, two sub-inns called waki honjin, and 70 taverns were actively doing business in Kusatsu until the end of Japan's feudal period, when railway transportation suddenly made these highways obsolete overnight.

The Kusatsu Yado Honjin, now a fantastically preserved museum, functioned as an officially appointed inn for daimyo (feudal lords) in the Edo Period. It was designated a site of Japanese historical interest in 1949, and stands as a superbly preserved tribute to the amazing craftsmanship of that era. The inn had about 300 rooms, one of which covered an amazing 268 tatami mats, all surrounded by a high wall.
Since 1996, the inn's old gate, kitchen, tatami corridors, beautiful gardens, and a number of its fabulous daimyo suites have been open to the public. This is a place every tourist will want to see and will never forget: a gem of gems from the Edo Period located less than an hour from Kyoto.

See what the Edo world was all about, by experiencing one of the Tokkaido highway's best preserved daimyo inns.

Kusatsu Juku (Information in Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English)
2-8-1 Kusatsu
Kusatsu-shi
Shiga 525-0034
Tel: 077 561 6636

Hours: 9am-5pm...