[1] Echigawa-juku has a very long history, and 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.

It was also known for Bin-temari (びん細工手まり), a local folk craft consisting of an embroidered ball inside a round glass container.

Per the 1843 "中山道宿村大概帳" (Nakasendō Shukuson Taigaichō) guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways (道中奉行, Dōchu-būgyō), the town had a population of 929 in 199 houses, including one honjin, two waki-honjin, and 28 hatago.

During the Bakumatsu period, Princess Kazu-no-miya stayed at Echigawa-juku on her way to marry Shogun Tokugawa Iemochi in Edo.

The travelers include two Komusō mendicant monks with their distinctive bamboo hats and shukuhachi flutes, speaking with woman leading an oxen with a loaded basket on its back.