The honjin were inns reserved solely for the members of the Imperial Court and the daimyo, the samurai nobility who were required to attend the shogun’s castle at regular intervals. Of the 53 original honjin on the Old Tokai Road, only two remain. One is at Futagawa Post Town. Well over 200 years old, and recognized as a historically and culturally important structure, this elegant building provides a fascinating glimpse into the architecture, style and grace of the Edo period. The honjin was only used by the elite. Lesser ranked lords stayed at the slightly lower ranked waki-honjin. When a lord was in residence at the honjin, large curtains featuring his family crest would be hung from the eves of the grand gates and main entrance way. Lower ranked samurai were billeted out to hatagoya, local houses, sometimes even local temples when space was at a premium.

Hatagoya were lodgings for the common folk, merchants, craftsmen, pilgrims, and lower ranked samurai. 38 hatagoya once lined the Old Tokai Road along Futagawa, however, being of lesser importance than the honjin, very few examples of hatagoya remain. The Seimeiya Hatagoya is one of those very few, and located alongside the equally important Futagawa Honjin. Seimeiya dates back to 1817 and is built in the typical hatagoya style, with a main house up front, connected to an intermediate room, and a rear room for special guests. The inn is also listed as a historically and culturally valuable property. While the lords staying at the honjin would indicate their presence with crest emblazoned curtains, more affluent travelers would carry wooden name posts to display out front of the hatagoya inns to inform passers by, particularly messengers, as to who was staying there.

Nearby both Futagawa's honjin and hatagoya is one of the few remaining traditional Komaya residences. The former Tamura home, consisting of eight structures, was originally an Edo period doctors’ practice, later being used as a rice dealer and finally a pawnshop, and now registered as a tangible cultural property since 2003. This too is a fine example of period architecture and design, and provides a feel of Edo period merchant lifestyles.
More information on the lodgings and the lives of the travelers along the Old Tokai Road can be found in the fascinating Futagawa Shuku Honjin Museum, opened in 1991, directly behind the two old inns. Regular and special displays explain the importance of the route, and the role the post towns played in spreading information and culture throughout Japan.
Although you can no longer stay at either the honjin or hatagoya, you can enjoy old style hospitality with a cup of green tea and Japanese sweets while enjoying a view of the garden from a traditional room in the Seimeiya's main house, and the architecture, history and the atmosphere of samurai period Japan at the Futagawa Post Town Honjin in Toyohashi. If you’re in Japan in October, you may even see the Daimyo Parade, bringing the Old Tokai Road back to life.