Itabashi-shuku is the first post station of the the sixtynine along the way from Tokyo towards Kyoto. In the beginning it was composed of three different, smaller hamlets called, in the order coming from Tokyo, Hirao-shuku, Naka-shuku, and Kami-shuku. Hirao and Naka were on the south side of the Shikuji river, and Kami on the north side. These were bundled together into a singular post station called Itabashi-shuku. The featured picture above shows the post stations along the eastern half of the Nakasendō, where the starting point at Nihonbashi is marked with an anchor, and Itabashi-shuku is marked with an exclamation point.

There is very little, if anything left from the Edo period where this post station once was, and the only things that remind us of the old Nakasendō road and the Tokugawa era are a few signs and stone markers. Below is the Ita bridge across the Shikuji river, which used to be within the bounds of the post station.

The sign says, among other things:

Itabashi-juku Kami-juku (Upper Post Town) on the Nakasendō Road

The Nakasendō Road, one of the five major highways of the Edo period, served as a vital artery connecting Edo (Tokyo) and Kyoto, supporting the movement of people, the distribution of goods, and cultural exchange.

Itabashi-juku was the first post town on the Nakasendō Road, measuring 15 cho and 49 ken (approximately 1.7 kilometres) in length. In 1843 (Tenpo 14), it had a population of 2,448 and 573 houses, with various establishments such as inns, restaurants, and palanquin shops lining the streets. Itabashi-juku was divided into Hirao-juku, Naka-juku, and Kami-juku from the Nihonbashi direction, with Kami-juku extending from Itabashi Bridge over the Shakujii River to the area of ​​the current Loop Route 7.

According to a census made in 1843, Itabashi-shuku had the following establishments

1 honjin, inn for high-level government officials
3 waki-honjin, inns also for high-level government officials and for other wealthy travellers
54 hatago, inns for everybody else
573 other houses