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''Honjin'' were a special type of elite inn maintained in [[post-towns]] and port towns of [[Edo period]] Japan. They were most typically used by ''daimyô'' traveling on ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys, but also occasionally housed figures of similar status, such as the lead ambassadors of [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]].

''Honjin'' were a special type of elite inn maintained in [[post-towns]] and port towns of [[Edo period]] Japan. They were most typically used by ''daimyô'' traveling on ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys, but also occasionally housed figures of similar status, such as the lead ambassadors of [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]].

''Honjin'' were often accompanied by secondary establishments known as ''waki-honjin'', where additional members of an elite group might stay; for example, when the lead ambassador (''seishi'') of a Ryukyuan embassy stayed at a ''honjin'', his vice- or deputy envoy (''fukushi'') typically stayed at the town's ''waki-honjin'', along with other members of the embassy above a certain rank. ''Honjin'' and ''waki-honjin'' sprang up quickly after ''sankin kôtai'' was made obligatory for all ''daimyô'' in [[1642]],<ref>With a very few select exceptions, such as for those clans whose service to the realm instead took the form of effecting the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]], for example.</ref> and soon became standard fixtures in major ports and post-towns across the realm.

''Honjin'' were often accompanied by secondary establishments known as ''waki-honjin'', where additional members of an elite group might stay; for example, when the lead ambassador (''seishi'') of a Ryukyuan embassy stayed at a ''honjin'', his vice- or deputy envoy (''fukushi'') typically stayed at the town's ''waki-honjin'', along with other members of the embassy above a certain rank. ''Honjin'' and ''waki-honjin'' sprang up quickly after ''sankin kôtai'' was made obligatory for all ''daimyô'' in [[1642]],<ref>With a very few select exceptions, such as for those clans whose service to the realm instead took the form of effecting the defense of the port of [[Nagasaki]], for example.</ref> and soon became standard fixtures in major ports and post-towns across the realm. While some towns had only one ''honjin'' (and perhaps not even a ''waki-honjin''), larger towns often had several of each.

''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. 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.

''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. 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.

The largest ''honjin'' on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] [[Highways|highway]] was at [[Odawara]].

The largest ''honjin'' on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] [[Highways|highway]] were at [[Odawara-juku]]. This was in large part because of its location. The castle-town is both close to [[Edo]], meaning that most ''daimyô'' and other travelers from western Japan would come that way, and it is located between a difficult mountain pass & a river crossing; as a result, Odawara was a place that few travelers merely passed through, and where most instead stayed the night.<ref>Plaques and signs on-site at Odawara-juku nariwai kôryûkan.</ref>