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Gokaido "Edo Five Routes"
In 1601 Tokugawa Ieyasu started consolidating and developing land routes out of Edo to meet the military needs of the government to facilitate the movement of officials, armies, supplies, and messengers and thereby increase the control of the Empire from his central Shogunate administration. The 4th Tokugawa Shogun Ietsuna, great-grandson of Ieyasu, formally declared five of the major roads as the Gokaido, or Five Routes. Many government-sanctioned post stations were set up along the roads for travelers to rest and buy provisions. The roads greatly helped the development of commerce in areas served by the routes. The Five Routes were:
Each route officially started at Nihonbashi in Edo, and it is from there that all traditional measurements of distance to the capital are made. The post stations were somewhat spaced equidistance from each other, averaging around 9 kilometers, or 5.5 miles, and travel distances were generally gauged based on the number of post stations in between. Travelers on foot generally covered four or five stations per day, depending on conditions and actual distance. The stations provided rest stops, local food and beverages, tourist spots, and lodgings, including hot baths and specialty massages, as well as stables and porter stations. Many stations were parts of castle towns, major temples, or ports. Common travelers generally were allowed to stay overnight only at post stations. Tea houses between posts served those traveling shorter distances, a few of which were large and significant enough to be awarded special designations as official providers of overnight lodgings for samurai and nobles. Due to Sankin Kotai, depending on the proximity to Edo, daimyo processions occurred on these roads with relative frequency. Special inns, called honjin, with walls enclosing several buildings and a garden were set aside at post towns for the use of daimyo and nobles, where not even the richest of merchants were allowed inside. The main building typically had twenty or more rooms. Almost every post town had a honjin, and the busier ones close to Edo had two or even three. Proprietors of honjin met the daimyo and the nobles at the edge of town and escorted them to their special lodgings. Travel was controlled at official sekisho "checkpoints" that were concentrated in a ring around Edo, usually at a natural barrier, where travelers had to present passage documents to continue on. Individual domains were not allowed to have gates or barrier of any kind on main roads, nor were they allowed to charge tolls or fees of any kind for passage. In terms of security, the Bakufu's main concern was de onna, iri teppo "women leaving, guns entering" Edo. A daimyo's family sneaking out or smuggling of guns into Edo both meant a plot was afoot. There were road markers every ri, almost 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles. The roads were proactively maintained and sometimes paved with small stones. They were often lined with rows of trees planted close together on both sides, which were usually either tall cedars or pine trees, to provide shade from the sun and cover from rain and snow. Rivers had bridges, ferries, or other crossing services, and were occasionally flooded, when they became impassable, but rarely for longer than a day or two. Commoners had to travel by foot, while available to messengers and the higher class were palanquins and horses, which had to be changed at every post station. Wheeled carts were rare as only the Imperial Court was allowed their use, and heavy cargo was shipped on boats. Women were forbidden to travel alone and had to be escorted by men, except for those with special permissions, such as groups of nuns or elderly pilgrims. With all the daimyo traveling on these roads, the Edo Five Routes were relatively safe, and they became very popular when pilgrimages and tourism began to thrive.
Tokaido "Eastern Sea Road"
The Tokaido during the Tokugawa Period was arguably the busiest road in world. It ran between two of the world's most populous cities, Edo, the capital of the Shogun, and Kyoto, the capital of the Emperor, with a branch that went to the Grand Shine in Isé, and extended to Osaka. It ran along the Pacific coast and there were 53 post stations in between. From the 52nd station at Kusatsu-juku (Omi), the Tokaido shared the road with the Nakasendo to Kyoto, and it ended at Sanjo Ohashi, a bridge that spanned Kyoto's Kamo River. In 1619 the Osaka Kaido was developed to extend the Tokaido from Kyoto to Osaka, ending at Koraibashi, a bridge that crossed the Higashi Yokobori River. The Tokaido ran through the following provinces:
As the Tokaido ran mostly along a coastal road, it had fewer mountainous parts compared to the other roads. The distance from Edo to Kyoto along the Tokaido was 127 ri, about 310 miles, or around 500 kilometers, and took about 12 or 13 days on foot. Courier service between Edo and Kyoto took about ten days using special runners called hikyaku "flying legs." Express delivery service from Edo to Kyoto typically took five days. For special emergencies, they were able to make deliveries in as little as 40 hours using relays of fresh horses at each post station. The Tokaido post towns had the highest average population of all the Edo Five Routes, with almost 4,000. Odawara, Tokaido Station 9, was the first post station from Edo that was a castle town. In 1850 it had a population of 12,700, and some 2,500 travelers passed through daily, with another 1,000 staying overnight at one of its 121 inns. Although the inns were of varying sizes and quality, a typical inn was two-storied and had four guestrooms. Each room typically was eight tatami in size, about 3.6 x 3.6 meters, or 12 x 12 feet, and accommodated up to four travelers. Every inn had hot baths for their guests, and the better ones provided freshly cleaned cotton robes, called yukata, for lounging and sleeping in. Average cost per person was 220 mon (about US$44 today), which included a set dinner, with saké costing extra, and next morning's breakfast. Meals were usually eaten in the guestrooms on a small low table for each person. A maid usually stayed in the room during meals to act as a server, and occasionally told local stories, sang songs, or provided other forms of light entertainment for tips. Between Odawara and the next post station was the sekisho "checkpoint" at Hakone, where 130 daimyo of western domains had to pass through, a daily occurrence during spring. Reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japan, when the Emperor resided in Kyoto, people traveled "up" to Kyoto and "down" to Edo. After the Imperial Restoration, when the Emperor lived in Tokyo, people traveled "up" to Tokyo and "down" to Kyoto. Tourism boomed during the Edo period, and travel along the Tokaido was a very popular topic in art and literature before trains were built. The famous haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) traveled the road. Jippensha Ikku (1765-1831) wrote a book called Hizakurigé "Shank's Mare," which is a picaresque comic novel about the misadventures of two travelers on Tokaido, and details famous landmarks along the road and at each of the 53 post towns. Utagawa Hiroshigé traveled the route for the first time in 1832, as part of an official delegation transporting horses that were gifts from the Shogun to the Emperor in Kyoto that was an annual custom. Immediately upon his return to Edo, he began creating a series of color woodcut prints called The Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido, which went on to become the bestselling Japanese prints in history.
The Tokaido became a site of social diversity, where people from different classes and regions met and saw the western novelties being carried from Nagasaki to Edo. In 1691 Engelbert Kaempfer, a German physician and traveler, described the Tokaido as "more crowded than the public streets in any of the most populous towns in Europe." In 1826 Franz von Siebold, a Dutch doctor, remarked "Except for a small portion of the Tokaido which passes through a mountainous region, the road consists of almost a continuous line of towns, villages, and teahouses." The flowering of Tokaido came when amusement areas around post towns flourished and developed a mass culture that fed a thriving entertainment industry. The road became a playground for the ukiyo "floating world" of Edo, a culture based on travel and the pursuit of bliss and transient pleasure. Post town were rated for their escape, illusion, and entertainment value. The post towns declined with the arrival of the railroad, and the floating world soon disappeared from Tokaido.
Nakasendo "Central Mountain Road"
Nakasendo connected Edo and Kyoto via a longer inland route than the Tokaido, and was rougher, but more scenic. Imperial envoys used the two routes alternately. It was less commonly known as Kiso Kaido as the road ran through the mountainous region of Kiso. Nakasendo had 69 stations between the two capitals, and was 135 ri long, about 534 kilometers, or 332 miles. Travel time was typically 18 to 20 days by foot. Nakasendo passed through the following provinces:
Despite the steep mountain passes, many people, including women, actually preferred this route because it did not have any rivers that required fording. Even daimyo at times chose this route as the Tokaido could at times get crowded.
Koshu Kaido
Koshu Kaido connected Edo with Kai province. Koshu is the name of the region which included Kai province. The road ran inland, westward, between the Tokaido and the Nakasendo, through Fuchu and Hachioji, and continued across the mountain range that includes Komagataké and Yatsugataké. It terminated at Shimosuwa-juku at Lake Suwa (Shinano), which was also Nakasendo Station 29, and popular for its hot springs. From here the traveler can could turn south to follow the Kiso River, or north to enter Echigo by way of Nagano. The route ran through mountain country, often at high altitudes. It had 44 post stations in between. Its length from Edo to Kofu, the capital of Kai province, was about 76 miles, or 122 kilometers, and from Kofu to Suwa another 44 miles, or 71 kilometers. Many daimyo from Shinano province used this road, including those from the Takato, Suwa, and Iida domains.
Oshu KaidoOshu Kaido connected Edo with Mutsu province. It had 27 post stations with the first 17 shared with the Nikko Kaido, branching off at Utsunomiya-juku. Its terminus was Shirakawa Castle. Since the road ended in the southern part of Mutsu province, there were many roads that connected with the Oshu Kaido. The Sendai-do connected the road with Sendai further north, with 41 post stations and terminating at Sendai Castle, and from there the Matsumaé-do went all the way to the northern tip of Mutsu province, with 44 post stations and ending at Tappisaki. Part of the famous book Oku no Hosomichi "Narrow Road to the Interior," by the illustrious Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), took place in Oshu Kaido. The book is a combination of prose and haiku, called haibun, and is a poetic travel diary recounting his experiences traveling to places like Shirakawa Castle, the shrines in Nikko, the hot springs in Yamanaka (Kaga), and ending at the Isé Grand Shrine. In one of its most memorable passages, Basho, who practiced Zen mediation, suggests that "every day is a journey, and the journey itself home." The account has inspired many people to follow in his footsteps and trace his journey for themselves.
Nikko KaidoNikko Kaido runs north from Edo, ending at Nikko Tosho-gu, the Shinto shrine dedicated to the 1st Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu. It was the shortest of the Edo Five Routes with only 21 post station, the first 17 of which was shared with the Oshu Kaido. Nikko Kaido branched off the Oshu Kaido at Utsunomiya-juku, site of the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle in 1868, during the Boshin War. From here, Nikko is approximately 35 kilometers, or 22 miles, to the east. Nikko Kaido had several subroutes:
Other RoadsIn addition there were a number of roads that branched from the Edo Five Routes, provided alternate routes, or accessed the more remote areas. A few of these are listed below:
The roads greatly stimulated tourism to all parts of the country, especially in groups. Nearly 3 million people visited the Isé Grand Shrine annually during the latter part of the Edo period, about 10% of the total population at the time. Local matsuri "festivals" became ever more popular and new ones sprang up all over Japan.
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