The view from standing right beneath the watchtower (to the left of it on the photo before) down towards the checkpoint. To the right, the stairs leading up from the living quarters of the lower ranks. Behind those from left to right the Kyoto side gate, the stables, the inner courtyard and the officer's quarters, checkpoint and bureau building, a board for official announcements (light brown wooden board right adjacent to the bureaus) and the Tokyo side gate.
In the background you can see Lake Ashi, which formed a natural bottleneck together with the hills and mountains on this stretch of the Tōkaidō. Making it a perfect location for a checkpoint.

When the wheather is very clear, the Fuji-san can be seen from around the watchtower. Unfortunately it was very nice, but not clear enough wheather when we visited.

The living quarters of the lower ranks of the garrison, just on the other side of the inner courtyard. To the right is where they would have slept. It is rather cramped in comparison to the accomodation of the higher ups.

And this is at the front of the officer's building, where it can be (and is here) opened towards the inner courtyard of the checkpoint. Here, travellers and their passports would have been checked. In the background visible is the room from the photo just before this one.

Next day: Hakone, including the rebuilt checkpoint on the Tōkaidō. The historical main road between Kyoto and Edo. This is its western entrance.

Bentendō on the central island of Shinobazu Pond. This is the side facing the Kiyomizu Kannondō. Many passersby stopped for a short prayer or reverence on their way home.