Changes

''Daimyô'' typically established regular reservations with ''honjin'' along their ''sankin kôtai'' routes, such that the ''honjin'' would know to expect them on particular dates each year, and to have a reception prepared for them in a particular manner, with the ''daimyô'' paying a pre-arranged amount as a show of gratitude. Such arrangements helped avoid difficulties which might otherwise emerge from negotiating and re-negotiating the schedule, and the terms, each time.  

''Daimyô'' typically established regular reservations with ''honjin'' along their ''sankin kôtai'' routes, such that the ''honjin'' would know to expect them on particular dates each year, and to have a reception prepared for them in a particular manner, with the ''daimyô'' paying a pre-arranged amount as a show of gratitude. Such arrangements helped avoid difficulties which might otherwise emerge from negotiating and re-negotiating the schedule, and the terms, each time.  

Reservations were typically made anywhere from 50 days to one year in advance; reservations, as well as other communications with the ''honjin'', were sometimes made through the exchange of letters, and sometimes by having someone dispatched to the post-station to make arrangements in person. ''Honjin'' then typically provided the ''daimyô'' with a confirmation receipt (''ukesho'' 請書), and a diagram of the layout of rooms (''mitorizu'' 見取図).<ref name=kusatsu37>''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 37.</ref> Still, there were times when a ''daimyô'' arrived in a town to find that another ''daimyô'' (or Imperial envoy, or another guest of similar elite status) had booked the inn for the night; most of the time, this resulted in the newcomer taking up lodging in the town's ''waki-honjin'', or another similar establishment, when available. ''Daimyô'' also quite regularly passed through post-towns, not staying the night, but merely using the ''honjin'' as a place to rest for a bit, and to perhaps enjoy a meal. Such meals and rest-stops were also often pre-arranged, but ''daimyô'' could also simply arrive and have their men make an arrangement on the spot.

Reservations were typically made anywhere from 50 days to one year in advance; reservations, as well as other communications with the ''honjin'', were sometimes made through the exchange of letters, and sometimes by having someone dispatched to the post-station to make arrangements in person. ''Honjin'' then typically provided the ''daimyô'' with a confirmation receipt (''ukesho'' 請書), and a diagram of the layout of rooms (''mitorizu'' 見取図).<ref name=kusatsu37>''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 37.</ref> Still, there were times when a ''daimyô'' arrived in a town to find that another ''daimyô'' (or Imperial envoy, or another guest of similar elite status) had booked the inn for the night; most of the time, this resulted in the newcomer taking up lodging in the town's ''waki-honjin'', or another similar establishment, when available.<ref>''Honjin'' typically gave priority to whoever had reserved earliest. However, messengers or officials representing the multiple elite guests sometimes discussed and negotiated an agreement, rather than solely leaving it up to such determinations. Further, imperial envoys, ''[[gosanke]]'' lords, and certain shogunate officials (e.g. guardsmen associated with [[Osaka castle]] or [[Nijo castle|Nijô castle]]), as a rule, typically had to cede their reservation when such conflicts arose. ''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 37.</ref> ''Daimyô'' also quite regularly passed through post-towns, not staying the night, but merely using the ''honjin'' as a place to rest for a bit, and to perhaps enjoy a meal. Such meals and rest-stops were also often pre-arranged, but ''daimyô'' could also simply arrive and have their men make an arrangement on the spot.

Select members of an elite entourage would typically travel several days ahead of the entourage, so as to make final arrangements at each successive post-station and to hand over ''[[sekifuda]]'' (wooden or paper plaques bearing the name of the elite guest, to be hung at the ''honjin'' and elsewhere announcing the elite guest's identity) and other things the post-station would need.  

Select members of an elite entourage would typically travel several days ahead of the entourage, so as to make final arrangements at each successive post-station and to hand over ''[[sekifuda]]'' (wooden or paper plaques bearing the name of the elite guest, to be hung at the ''honjin'' and elsewhere announcing the elite guest's identity) and other things the post-station would need.