Station

...The term "ekiya no ie" means a government office that doubled as a private residence, just like the "guuke no ie" where the county governor lived. According to historical documents, the station house surrounded by a tsuigi (a fishing port), had its gate facing the road along which the horses passed, and it is assumed that the station house contained stables and watering fountains for the horses, an office for the stationmaster, buildings for resting, eating, and lodging for the officials who used the horses and their grooms, and warehouses for storing horse equipment, hay, rice, sake, salt, etc. However, these are difficult to distinguish from the private residence of the stationmaster, who was an influential person in the village, and archaeologically, the remains of the station house have not yet been identified. In addition, station houses were established along important transportation routes, such as the route from the capital or provincial capital to the next provincial capital, and as a rule, every 30 ri (about 16 km), and since villages were needed around them to provide stations for the various tasks of the station, they were often located in the same district as the county house. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Ekiin" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…駅家の家は，郡司の住む郡家（ぐうけ）の家と同じく，私宅を兼ねた役場の意。文献によれば，築地にかこまれた駅院が駅馬の通る路に面して駅門をひらき，院内には駅馬の厩舎や水飲場をはじめ，駅長らのいる事務室，駅馬を使う官人やその馬丁を勤める駅子（えきし）の休息･飲食･宿泊のための建物，馬具･蒭（まぐさ）･駅稲（えきとう）･酒･塩などを納める倉庫などのあったことが想定できるが，それらは村落の有力者である駅長の私宅部分と区別しがたく，考古学的には駅家の遺跡がまだ明白でない。また駅家は都や国府から次の国府までの駅路という交通の要路にそい，原則として30里(約16km)ごとに設置され，その周囲には駅の諸業務に従事する駅戸を出す村落が必要なので，郡家と同じ地区にあるばあいも少なくない。…

※「駅院」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報