Yokkaichi-juku was a post town located at the intersection of the Tōkaidō and the Ise Sangū Kaidō, one of the main highways for pilgrims to the Ise Grand Shrines, and it developed as a market town from the Muromachi period, noted for holding a market on days ending in "four" of each month.

Under the Tokugawa shogunate, Yokkaichi was tenryō territory under direct control of the Shōgun, and was administered by a daikan based in the town.

Per the 1843 "東海道宿村大概帳" (Tōkaidō Shukuson Taigaichō) guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways (道中奉行, Dōchu-būgyō), the town had a population of 7114 in 1811 houses, including two honjin, one wakihonjin, and 98 hatago.

A local product of Yokkaichi-juku favored by traveller was Nagamochi (なが餅), an elongated rice cape containing a paste made from sweet red beans, which had been roasted over charcoal.

The post town is depicted as a small collection of huts in the middle of a marsh, almost hidden by the reeds.