Changes

The ''sankin kôtai'' system ensured a reliable flow of considerable numbers of elite travelers across the country, contributing considerably to both official and private construction of [[post-stations]] and inns (and their surrounding towns), lighthouses and port facilities, maintenance of highways, and expansion of travel-related services, such as networks of [[hikyaku|messengers]], [[toiyaba|porters, and horses]]. Special elite lodgings known as ''[[honjin]]'' and ''waki-honjin'', employed chiefly by ''daimyô'' traveling on ''sankin kôtai'', and by others of similar status, quickly became standard sights in most post-towns after the 1642 expansion of ''sankin kôtai'' obligations.<ref name=honjin53>Watanabe, 53.</ref> [[Corvee|Corvée]] labor was employed to provide a considerable portion of the porters, boatmen, and the like. Barrier checkpoints called ''[[sekisho]]'' were established along the highways to regulate travel; among their functions, too, was to enforce that firearms not be carried into Edo (so as to help prevent rebellion), and that women (who might be hostage members of ''daimyô'' families) not be allowed to leave.

The ''sankin kôtai'' system ensured a reliable flow of considerable numbers of elite travelers across the country, contributing considerably to both official and private construction of [[post-stations]] and inns (and their surrounding towns), lighthouses and port facilities, maintenance of highways, and expansion of travel-related services, such as networks of [[hikyaku|messengers]], [[toiyaba|porters, and horses]]. Special elite lodgings known as ''[[honjin]]'' and ''waki-honjin'', employed chiefly by ''daimyô'' traveling on ''sankin kôtai'', and by others of similar status, quickly became standard sights in most post-towns after the 1642 expansion of ''sankin kôtai'' obligations.<ref name=honjin53>Watanabe, 53.</ref> [[Corvee|Corvée]] labor was employed to provide a considerable portion of the porters, boatmen, and the like. Barrier checkpoints called ''[[sekisho]]'' were established along the highways to regulate travel; among their functions, too, was to enforce that firearms not be carried into Edo (so as to help prevent rebellion), and that women (who might be hostage members of ''daimyô'' families) not be allowed to leave.

''Daimyô'' quickly came to establish regular schedules of reservations with particular ''honjin'', which knew to expect them on or around particular dates every year, and knew to prepare a reception in a particular fashion, with the ''daimyô'' paying a set amount of money in gratitude; by making this a regular, established, pattern, it helped avoid difficulties which might emerge from attempting to negotiate and re-negotiate dates, accommodations, and/or payment.<ref name=honjin53/> Many ''daimyô'' of western Japan also came to maintain mansions in Osaka and Kyoto as well, where the ''daimyô'' and his retinue would stay during their journeys to and from the shogun's capital, thus contributing to the culture and economy of these cities as well.

''Daimyô'' quickly came to establish regular schedules of reservations with particular ''honjin'', which knew to expect them on or around particular dates every year, and knew to prepare a reception in a particular fashion, with the ''daimyô'' paying a set amount of money in gratitude; by making this a regular, established, pattern, it helped avoid difficulties which might emerge from attempting to negotiate and re-negotiate dates, accommodations, and/or payment.<ref name=honjin53/> A larger ''honjin'' might provide lodgings for the ''daimyô'' and as many as sixty of his more esteemed retainers, while additional members of a samurai entourage (or [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryukyuan]] or [[Korean embassies to Edo|Korean embassy]]) would stay at ''waki-honjin'', ''[[hatagoya]]'' (regular inns, also patronized by individual travelers), private homes, Buddhist temples, and/or Shinto shrines.<ref name=honjin53/>

 

Many ''daimyô'' of western Japan also came to maintain mansions in Osaka and Kyoto as well, where the ''daimyô'' and his retinue would stay during their journeys to and from the shogun's capital, thus contributing to the culture and economy of these cities as well.

In the early Edo period, most ''daimyô'' of Kyushu, Shikoku, and western Honshû, traveled by ship to [[Osaka]]; ''[[sekibune]]'' were converted into luxurious ''gozabune'' for this portion of the journey, and riverboats were used to travel up the [[Yodo River]] from Osaka to [[Fushimi]], from which the ''daimyô'' would then travel overland to Kyoto proper, and then along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] to Edo. Later on, however, many ''daimyô'' switched to traveling overland for as much of the journey as they could, avoiding sea travel. The [[Shimazu clan]] lords of [[Satsuma han]] likely had the longest journey; it typically took 40 to 60 days to travel the 440 ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' to Edo. Though they originally sailed to Osaka from Kumisaki (Satsuma Sendai) or Wakimoto (Akune) on Kyushu's west coast, or from Hososhima in [[Hyuga province|Hyûga province]] on Kyushu's east coast, they later switched to marching overland across Kyushu to [[Shimonoseki]], and then walking the [[Sanyodo|San'yôdô]] to Osaka.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref>

In the early Edo period, most ''daimyô'' of Kyushu, Shikoku, and western Honshû, traveled by ship to [[Osaka]]; ''[[sekibune]]'' were converted into luxurious ''gozabune'' for this portion of the journey, and riverboats were used to travel up the [[Yodo River]] from Osaka to [[Fushimi]], from which the ''daimyô'' would then travel overland to Kyoto proper, and then along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] to Edo. Later on, however, many ''daimyô'' switched to traveling overland for as much of the journey as they could, avoiding sea travel. The [[Shimazu clan]] lords of [[Satsuma han]] likely had the longest journey; it typically took 40 to 60 days to travel the 440 ''[[Japanese Measurements|ri]]'' to Edo. Though they originally sailed to Osaka from Kumisaki (Satsuma Sendai) or Wakimoto (Akune) on Kyushu's west coast, or from Hososhima in [[Hyuga province|Hyûga province]] on Kyushu's east coast, they later switched to marching overland across Kyushu to [[Shimonoseki]], and then walking the [[Sanyodo|San'yôdô]] to Osaka.<ref>Gallery labels, [[Shokoshuseikan|Shôkoshûseikan]], Kagoshima.</ref>