Walking along the Koshu Kaido | Discovering a factory with a sawtooth roof! | Hino - Hachioji

In elementary school, we were taught that factory roofs are sawtooth-shaped to let in light.

However, I’ve never seen a sawtooth-shaped factory before.

When I was walking along the Koshu Kaido road, I was a little bit impressed to see a factory with a sawtooth roof.

Hino-juku

Today, I will walk along the Koshu Kaido from Hino Station.

Hino City Fire Department apparatus storage area

I see that Hino is putting a lot of effort into tourism, especially the Hino-juku. The apparatus storage area for the fire department is also shaped like an earthen storehouse.

For Hosenji, Koushu Kaido

To the left of where I took this photo is the Machikado Photo Studio, and there is a photo taken in 1945 with the same composition as this photo.
At that time, the road was a gravel road, and the Hino water supply crossed under the road from the electric pole on the right.

Photo taken looking back at the Koshu Kaido road cut by the Chuo Line

The Koshu Kaido has been crossed diagonally by the Chuo Line.

This photo was taken after crossing the Chuo Line, looking back at the place where the road was crossed.

There used to be a level crossing here, but there is no trace of it.

Sawn Roof Factory

Hino is the name of Hino Motors. I found a sawtooth roof on their auto plant! Hmm, wonderful.

According to Wikipedia, most sawtooth roofs have a lighted side on the north side. However, the Koshu Kaido runs south of this factory, so the lighted side is facing south. I guess Wikipedia is mainly talking about textile factories that are sensitive to color, while automobile factories are not so sensitive to color.

Hachioji-jiku

Hachiko Line as seen from Koshu Kaido

I cross the Hachiko Line. The Hachiko Line is a single track. I wonder if the reason for digging it so deep is for soundproofing.

The Hachiko Line is a silk road that was built to transport raw silk from Gunma to Yokohama. The Koshu Kaido also carried raw silk from Yamanashi and Nagano, so this is the intersection of the Silk Roads.

Hachioji City manhole with Kuruma Ningyo design

The design of the manhole cover in Hachioji is said to be “Kuruma Ningyo,” an intangible folk cultural asset.

浅川

Cross the Asakawa River at Owada Bridge.

The city of Hachioji was bombed by 180 B-29 bombers on August 2, 1945. At that time, many people who escaped under the Owada Bridge were saved. Many incendiary bombs were dropped on the bridge as well, and 17 traces left on the sidewalk are marked with colored tiles.

I was reminded once again of the cruelty of war.

Takenohana Ichirizuka

This is Takenohana Ichirizuka, which marks 12ri from Edo.

This is the entrance to Hachioji-juku, where the road turns left and then right into a right-angled bend.

昭和2年新道建設時の甲州街道を記念する碑

This is a stone monument about 3.5 km from Ichirizuka.

Koshu Kaido is also a small right-angled bend here. A new road equivalent to today’s Route 20 was built in 1927, and the condition of the road before that is engraved on the stone.

It seems to have been reconstructed in 1981. I wonder if the tasteful drawing, which does not care for perspective, is also inherited from the early stone monument.

A row of zelkova trees in the Tama-Goryo (Imperial Mausoleum)

This is a row of zelkova trees in Tama-Goryo. (One tree in the foreground is a plantain.)

I heard that you can visit the Tama Imperial Mausoleum, but it was past the visiting hours that day, so I would like to visit it next time.

Exterior view of Takao Station

This is Takao Station.

Takao Station used to be called Asakawa Station. This is the name of the river I just crossed on the Owada Bridge.

This is the first time I saw the station building from outside the station. It’s a magnificent building.

Walking data

Course: JR Chuo Line Hino Station -> Hino-juku -> Hachioji-juku -> JR Chuo Line Takao Station
Distance: 12.9km
Time: 2h38m