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Some of the most powerful daimyô maintained their own messenger networks, called ''daimyô hikyaku'' or ''shichi-ri-hikyaku'', as these networks generally had horses ready every seven ''[[ri]]'' (''shichi-ri''). The two most prominent daimyô who maintained such networks were the ''[[Gosanke]]'' Tokugawa branch families based in [[Wakayama castle|Wakayama]] and [[Nagoya castle|Nagoya]]. Messengers in the service of [[Wakayama han]] left Edo on the 5th, 15th, and 25th of each month, and left Wakayama on the 10th, 20th, and 30th.
Some of the most powerful daimyô maintained their own messenger networks, called ''daimyô hikyaku'' or ''shichi-ri-hikyaku'', as these networks generally had horses ready every seven ''[[ri]]'' (''shichi-ri''). The two most prominent daimyô who maintained such networks were the ''[[Gosanke]]'' Tokugawa branch families based in [[Wakayama castle|Wakayama]] and [[Nagoya castle|Nagoya]]. Messengers in the service of [[Wakayama han]] left Edo on the 5th, 15th, and 25th of each month, and left Wakayama on the 10th, 20th, and 30th.
All in all, the time it took to convey messages from Osaka to Edo or vice versa, across 500 km, settled into a standard of six days by the end of the 17th century; in the 18th century, as the economy boomed and road and river traffic increased, delays due to congestion and other factors increased as well, and what once took six days now more frequently took ten or twelve. Meanwhile, however, commercial messenger services sought ways to cut down their times, and soon ''haya hikyaku'' (quick messengers) were making the journey in five, four, or as little as three and a half days, gaining time by running at night, and by making stops at fewer stations. In the 19th century, messengers somehow managed to cut the time even further, making the journey in as little as two days. However, these super express services were quite expensive, costing as much as four, or even eight or nine ''[[ryo|ryô]]'' for three-and-a-half day delivery of a message.
==References==
==References==
