お伊勢参りの旅人と阿保の宿——街道を歩いた人々の一夜Pilgrims to Ise and the inn at Abo — a night's rest on the road
お伊勢参りは、江戸時代に庶民のあいだでも広く親しまれた旅でした。目的地の伊勢神宮までは、何日も自分の足で歩きます。だからこそ、一日の終わりに体を休める宿は、旅の安心を支える大切な存在でした。大和と伊勢を結ぶ初瀬街道の宿場町だった阿保も、伊勢参りの旅人で賑わった町のひとつです。いまも町には、常夜燈や講の看板が残っています。
歩いて旅をした時代の宿は、「どこまで進めるか」で決まりました。日が傾く前に足を止め、草鞋を脱いで足を洗い、食事をとって、翌朝の出立に備える。街道沿いの町や集落が宿場として栄えたのは、旅人の一日の歩みに、人の暮らしと商いがぴたりと寄り添っていたからです。旅人を迎えた家は、通りに面して間口を構え、奥に座敷を並べる——そんな、客と家族が同じ屋根の下で過ごす造りだったと考えられます。
今も伊賀のあたりには、街道の時代を思わせる古い家並みや、深い軒、続き間の座敷をもつ家が点在しています。阿保を訪れる機会があれば、駅から家々のあいだを少しゆっくり歩いてみてください。かつて旅人が通った土地の空気は、軒の深さや屋根の連なりに、いまも静かに残っているはずです。宿の具体的な場所や歴史は、地元の資料や語り部の話で確かめながら、少しずつ知っていくのも楽しみのひとつです。Ise pilgrimage was a journey that ordinary people, too, took to heart in the Edo period. The road to Ise Jingu meant many days on foot, and so an inn where one could rest at the end of the day was a vital part of the traveler's peace of mind. Abo, a post town on the Hase Kaido linking Yamato and Ise, was one of the towns that bustled with pilgrims; stone lanterns and the signboards of pilgrimage associations (kō) still remain in the town today.
In the age of travel on foot, where one lodged was decided by how far one could get. Before the light failed you stopped, took off your straw sandals, washed your feet, ate, and prepared for the next morning's departure. Towns and hamlets along old roads flourished as post towns because life and trade fitted so closely to a traveler's day of walking. Houses that received travelers are thought to have stood with a frontage on the road and rooms lined up behind — a layout in which guests and the family lived under one roof.
Around Iga today, old streets and houses with deep eaves and connected tatami rooms still recall the age of the road. If you have the chance to visit Abo, try walking slowly among the houses from the station. The air of a land that travelers once passed through should still linger quietly in the depth of the eaves and the run of the roofs. Finding out exactly where the inn stood and what its history was — from local records and the stories of local people — is part of the pleasure of coming to know the place little by little.