The Sengoku Kaido, also known as the salt road, connects Echigo Itoigawa facing the Sea of Japan to Matsumoto in Shinshu, a distance of about 30 ri, or 120 kilometers.
Although it is not a glamorous road along which feudal lords' processions passed, this ancient road, which winds through natural woodlands, played an important role as a logistics and trading road.
Cotton and tobacco were transported from Shinshu to Echigo, and salt and marine products called "shijumono" were transported from Echigo to Shinshu over the pass and across the Himekawa River.
It is said that for about six months from 88 nights in early May to light snow in late November, people from the Sea of Japan paraded in procession, carrying salt and 40 products on their backs, along with oxen and oxen. Ushihitoe-mei was the name given to a person who used oxen to carry goods, and it is said that one full-fledged Ushihitoe-mei carried as many as six oxen.
In winter, the Shinetsu border was covered with deep snow, making it difficult for the oxen to walk, so people carried the load on their backs. One person carried a bale of salt weighing approximately 47 kilograms, plus 40 other items, on his back using a tool called a "backpacker's pack".
Along the roads, the snowfall was sometimes more than 5 meters, and people called them "Bokka-san" or "Bokka-sa" to express their respect for their hard work.
Both the footmen and oxen were carried by the farmers along the road, and were important jobs for earning daily wages.
Incidentally, it is said that this road was also used in the famous story of "gishio," or the sending of salt by Kenshin Uesugi, an Echigo warlord, to Shingen Takeda of Kai, an avenging enemy in the Warring States period.
Today, Otari Village has eight trails that connect the Road of Salt to the Itoigawa River.
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