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Some of these barriers were those already existing before the establishment of the shogunate, but most were built during the reign of Shogun [[Tokugawa Hidetada]] (r. [[1605]]-[[1623]]), with the last of the 53 ''sekisho'' being established in [[1686]]. Many were newly constructed where no formal barrier checkpoint had existed before, but some were built as expansions or reconfigurations of barriers built by local/regional warlords.
Some of these barriers were those already existing before the establishment of the shogunate, but most were built during the reign of Shogun [[Tokugawa Hidetada]] (r. [[1605]]-[[1623]]), with the last of the 53 ''sekisho'' being established in [[1686]]. Many were newly constructed where no formal barrier checkpoint had existed before, but some were built as expansions or reconfigurations of barriers built by local/regional warlords.
A system of passes, or passports, was put into place to regulate who was permitted to pass through the barriers. Identification papers were known as ''sekisho tegata'', or simply ''tegata''.<ref>Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p160.</ref>
A system of passes, or passports, was put into place to regulate who was permitted to pass through the barriers. Identification papers were known as ''sekisho tegata'', or simply ''tegata''.<ref>Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p160.</ref> A late 18th century traveler, [[Sugae Masumi]], describes these passes as including descriptions of the identity of the traveler, his origin and destination, his clothing and whether or not he carried a short sword; there was generally a fee to pass each barrier, and one's pass was marked to indicate that one had been checked at the checkpoint.<ref>Bolitho. p494.</ref>
Certain domains instituted their own additional precautions. [[Hitoyoshi han]] is known to have assigned escorts to those traveling through its territory, to keep an eye on where the traveler went and what he saw, and perhaps to discourage or prevent him from going to certain places or seeing certain things. [[Satsuma han]] is known to have searched travelers' belongings at the border, and to require travelers to prove they had enough funds to not become a burden upon the domain while sojourning there; Satsuma also instituted a system by which one's traveling pass was to be given to the headman of the village one stayed in each night, and regained from the headman in the morning.
==References==
==References==
*Bolitho, Harold. "Travelers' Tales: Three 18th Century Travel Journals." ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'' 50:2 (1990). pp485-504.
*Vaporis, Constantine. ''Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan''. Harvard University Press, 1994. pp99-133.
*Vaporis, Constantine. ''Breaking Barriers: Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan''. Harvard University Press, 1994. pp99-133.
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