Mekawa Village, Ishibe, from the series the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Hoeido edition)

From here to Kyoto it’s 37 kilometers. About a day’s journey by foot in those days. This pictures the tea stall “Iseya” which was set up in Megawa Village, at this intermediate station near Kusatsu. It was famous for rice boiled with greens, grilled tofu, and baked tofu coated with miso paste, and was introduced in the equivalent of travel guidebooks. Nanbo Ota, in his Kaigen Kiko (“new era travel”), wrote that the food here was delicious.