“Fast Feet” (Hikyaku) of Hayamichi Town
During the Edo period (1603–1867), when ashigaru (foot soldiers) were not absorbed in military exercises, they were often employed in public service work such as patrolling samurai residences or acting as gate guards. They also found employment as couriers for the Kaga domain (feudal-era Ishikawa centered on Kanazawa City), delivering letters, official documents, money orders, and packages to Edo (now Tokyo) in the east, or to the Osaka-Kyoto area in the west. Those who did this type of courier work were called “fast feet” (hikyaku). Many ashigaru took up this occupation. The former Hayamichi Town, where the Takanishi Family House and Shimizu Family House were previously located, was a residential district for ashigaru who served as hikyaku.
Hikyaku were known for their speed and unique running style. They did leg-training drills regularly, and upon receiving word would rush immediately to the castle. It is said that it took a skilled hikyaku only five days in the summer and six in the winter to cover the distance from Kanazawa to Edo. If hikyaku delivered their goods more quickly than expected, sometimes they were handsomely rewarded. If they were late, however, their pay was often reduced. Hikyaku used the highways for their deliveries, but in order to avoid passing through parts of other domains that might give them trouble, they also grew familiar with byroads and mountain paths.
In the late seventeenth century, under the fifth domain lord Maeda Tsunanori (1643–1724), hikyaku work was gradually given over to commoners not of ashigaru rank.