Goubara-shuku is the first post town on the Zenkoji Kaido after it splits from the Nakasendo at Seba-juku. It was established in Keicho 19 (1614) when Hidemasa Ogasawara, lord of Matsumoto Castle, improved the Zenkoji Kaido (the Hokkokuwaki Oukan) to connect Seba-juku on the Nakasendo with the Kitakuni Highway. Rather than an existing hamlet simply becoming the post town, Goubara’s original settlement stood in Ueno Chiseki on the east bank of the Narai River. When the post station was developed, the settlement was relocated around Genna 5 (c.1619) with the Katakaishi settlement from Sumito Chiseki on the river’s west bank to form the new post town at its present site.