Saba Kaido 鯖街道endpoint marker at Demachiyanagi. In the days before trains and trucks, fish was transported to the landlocked capital from the Japan Sea via the Wakasa-kaido route, but since salted mackerel was the main product, the name Saba-kaido stuck.

The route begins in the port city of Obama and nearly all of them end here at Demachiyanagi. The fish was salted before being loaded onto the wagons, and the salt usually soaked in to the appropriate degree by the time it reached kyoto. Now vinegared mackerel, saba-zushi, is the famous food associated with the route.

by KyotoGaijin