Chosenjin kaido

• Japanese: 朝鮮人街道 (Chousenjin kaidou)

The Chôsenjin kaidô, or "Koreans' Highway," was the route taken by Korean embassies to Edo from Ôtsu to Narumi. Not a set single highway, like the Tôkaidô, it was a route which made use of various roads, bypassing the Tôkaidô and passing through or past a number of towns not along the Tôkaidô, including Hikone, Ôgaki, and Nagoya. Though an informal name, the term Chôsenjin kaidô began to appear on official shogunate-sponsored maps in the early 19th century.

Much of the envoys' journey from Korea to Osaka and Kyoto was by boat; after entering Kyoto on land, the envoys' traveled the Chôsenjin kaidô from Ôtsu to Narumi, and then from Atsuta to Edo traveled the Tôkaidô.

References

• Toby, Ronald. “Carnival of the Aliens: Korean Embassies in Edo-Period Art and Popular Culture.” Monumenta Nipponica 41:4 (Winter 1986). pp 420-421n.