Old Tōkaidō Road Ancient Cedar Avenue - East End

Giant cedar trees line this stretch of the old Tōkaidō Road, their trunks thick with moss and gnarled by centuries of weather. The shogunate ordered these trees planted during the seventeenth century to provide shade for travelers trekking over the steep Hakone pass. While most of the original road disappeared under modern pavement, this half-mile segment remains intact. Local records note that travelers once relied on these trees to gauge their progress against the harsh winds that whipped through the mountain corridor.