During the Ritsuryō period, roads from Kinai to the Tagajō were divided into two: the Tōkaidō eastern sea road (via Nagoya, Hamamatsu, Tokyo and Mito) and the Tōsandō eastern mountain road (via Gifu, Shiojiri, Takasaki and Utsunomiya).
Seba-juku was originally established in 1614, along with Shiojiri-juku and Motoyama-juku, in order to accommodate the change in the Nakasendō's route.