Changes

''Denma'' were post-horses used to carry luggage and packages along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] and other [[highways]] in the [[Edo period|early modern period]]. Horses were typically used only between one [[post-station]] (''shukuba'') and the next; after arriving in each post-station, couriers or porters would change for new horses at the town's ''[[toiyaba]]''.  

''Denma'' were post-horses used to carry luggage and packages along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] and other [[highways]] in the [[Edo period|early modern period]]. Horses were typically used only between one [[post-station]] (''shukuba'') and the next; after arriving in each post-station, couriers or porters would change for new horses at the town's ''[[toiyaba]]''.  

Horses were divided into three general categories based on the amount of weight they could be used to carry. ''Honma'' 本馬 and ''norikake'' 乗掛 horses were typically used to carry up to 40 ''kanme'' worth of materials, while ''karajiri'' 軽尻 horses were used to carry either a rider and a small amount of weight, or up to 20 ''kanme'' worth of cargo.<ref>"[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%BB%BD%E5%B0%BB-467394#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89 Karajiri]," ''Digital Daijisen''.; "[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9C%AC%E9%A6%AC-632560 Honma]," ''Digital Daijisen''.; "[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B9%97%E6%8E%9B%E3%83%BB%E4%B9%97%E6%87%B8-2073288 Norikake]," ''Nihon kokugo daijiten''.</ref>

Horses were divided into three general categories based on the amount of weight they could be used to carry. ''Honma'' 本馬 and ''norikake'' 乗掛 horses were typically used to carry up to 40 ''kanme'' (approx. 150 kg) worth of materials, or 20 ''kanme'' and a rider, while ''karajiri'' 軽尻 horses were used to carry either a rider and a small amount of weight, or up to 20 ''kanme'' worth of cargo.<ref>"[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E8%BB%BD%E5%B0%BB-467394#E3.83.87.E3.82.B8.E3.82.BF.E3.83.AB.E5.A4.A7.E8.BE.9E.E6.B3.89 Karajiri]," ''Digital Daijisen''.; "[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9C%AC%E9%A6%AC-632560 Honma]," ''Digital Daijisen''.; "[https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%B9%97%E6%8E%9B%E3%83%BB%E4%B9%97%E6%87%B8-2073288 Norikake]," ''Nihon kokugo daijiten''.</ref> ''Honma'' and ''norikake'' horses were typically the same cost to rent, and ''karajiri'' typically cost roughly 2/3 of that price.

 

This relay system was known as ''shukutsugi'' 宿継, and it is from this that the typical Japanese name for the 53 "stations" of the Tôkaidô - ''Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi'' - derives.

This relay system was known as ''shukutsugi'' 宿継, and it is from this that the typical Japanese name for the 53 "stations" of the Tôkaidô - ''Tôkaidô gojûsan tsugi'' - derives.