Moriyama-juku
[file:Moriyama-juku Uno-ke 01.jpg|right|thumb|260px|Uno house museum in Moriyama-juku]
Moriyama-juku was the sixty-seventh of the sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It was located in the present-day city of Moriyama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.
History
Moriyama-juku was one of the original staging points on the ancient Tōsandō highway connecting the capital of Heian-kyō with the provinces of eastern Japan from the end of the Nara period onwards. Its name means "protecting mountain", and refers to Mount Hiei which contains the temple of Enryaku-ji, the head temple of the Tendai sect. At its height, Enryaku-ji was a huge complex with over 3,000 temples and a strong army of warrior-monks. Its head abbot was usually an Imperial prince, and the temple was a powerful political force, often intervening in the politics of the court. The temple was largely destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in 1580, but was gradually rebuilt under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa shogunate.In the early Edo period, the system of post stations on the Nakasendō was formalized by the Tokugawa shogunate in 1602. Moriyama-juku was a popular stopping point for pilgrims on their way to the temple from the east. It was also on the sankin-kōtai route by the Kishū Tokugawa clan and other western daimyō to-and-from the Shogun's court in Edo.
Per the 1843 "中山道宿村大概帳" guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways, the town had a population of 1700 in 415 houses, including two honjin, one waki-honjin, and 30 hatago. Moriyama-juku is 502 kilometers from Edo and was often the first stop on the route for travelers departing Kyoto. Many travelers preferred Moriyama-juku over Kusatsu-juku, which tended to be much more crowded as it was on a juncture of the Nakasendō with the Tōkaidō.
Between Moriyama-juku and neighboring Musa-juku was the starting point for Chōsenjin Kaidō a branch route which ran close to the shore of Lake Biwa, bypassing the next three stations of the Nakasendō to rejoin the main route at Toriimoto-juku. It was so-named because it was the designated route for use by Korean envoys during the Joseon missions to Japan.
During the Bakumatsu period, Princess Kazu-no-miya stayed at Moriyama-juku on her way to marry Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi in Edo.