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[[File:Futagawa-genkan.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The entranceway (''genkan'') at [[Futagawa-juku]] on the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]].]]
*''Japanese'': 本陣 ''(honjin)''
*''Japanese'': 本陣 ''(honjin)''
''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 regularly served as lodgings for traveling court nobles (''[[kuge]]''), shogunate officials, members of the imperial family, and prominent religious figures (e.g. abbots of Buddhist temples, Shinto priests), as well as for envoys from foreign kingdoms such as [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryûkyû]].<ref>If the ''honjin'' at [[Futagawa-juku]] might be taken as a representative example, in an average year, more than half of the ''honjin's'' guests were ''daimyô''; ''[[bugyo|bugyô]]'', ''[[daikan]]'', and other shogunate officials comprised just over one quarter of the guests; court nobles around 7%; religious figures around 5%; and the heads of the ''[[Gosanke]]'' houses another five percent. Ina Toshisada 伊奈利定, "Tôkaidô Futagawa juku honjin ni okeru daimyô-ke no riyô," ''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'', 57.</ref>
''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 regularly served as lodgings for traveling court nobles (''[[kuge]]''), shogunate officials, members of the imperial family, and prominent religious figures (e.g. abbots of Buddhist temples, Shinto priests), as well as for envoys from foreign kingdoms such as [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo|Ryûkyû]].<ref>If the ''honjin'' at [[Futagawa-juku]] might be taken as a representative example, in an average year, more than half of the ''honjin's'' guests were ''daimyô''; ''[[bugyo|bugyô]]'', ''[[daikan]]'', and other shogunate officials comprised just over one quarter of the guests; court nobles around 7%; religious figures around 5%; and the heads of the ''[[Gosanke]]'' houses another five percent. Ina Toshisada 伊奈利定, "Tôkaidô Futagawa juku honjin ni okeru daimyô-ke no riyô," ''Honjin ni tomatta daimyô tachi'', 57.</ref> ''Honjin'' were often the private homes of village elders, which also served as centers of village administration, as well as hosting elite visitors.<ref>Miyake Riichi 三宅理一, ''Edo no gaikô toshi'' 江戸の外交都市, Kashima shuppankai (1990), 77.</ref> In port towns in the western half of the [[Inland Sea]], establishments known as ''chaya'' ("teahouses"), built chiefly for the ''daimyô's'' own use during vacations and voyages, often served these purposes, in place of or in addition to a ''honjin''.<ref>''Umimichi wo yuku: Edo jidai no Seto Naikai'' 海道をゆく－江戸時代の瀬戸内海－, Museum of Ehime History and Culture 愛媛県歴史文化博物館 (1999), 46. In some cases, the equivalent establishment was known instead as an ''okariya'' ("temporary house"), ''gochisôya'' ("reception house"), or by various other names. ''Umimichi wo yuku'', 119.</ref>
Though well-apportioned, permanent establishments, ''honjin'' evolved out of the [[Sengoku period]] practice of warlords commandeering people's homes (or renting them, based on consenting agreement) to use them as a temporary headquarters, or simply as lodgings for a night.<ref>Miyamoto Tsuneichi 宮本常一, ''Nihon no shuku'' 日本の宿, Tokyo: Shakai shisôsha (1965), 166.</ref> The term is said to originate in Shogun [[Ashikaga Yoshiakira|Ashikaga Yoshiakira's]] usage of lodgings specially arranged for him, on a journey to the capital in [[1363]].<ref>''Maisaka chôshi: shiryô hen 2'' 舞阪町史・史料編２, Shizuoka: Maisaka Town (1971), 649.</ref> In the Edo period, ''honjin'' continued to serve metaphorically as the headquarters of a ''daimyô'' as military commander, a fact reflected in the term itself, which literally means "main encampment" or "chief tent."<ref>''Umimichi wo yuku'', 120.</ref> This functions as one element of the metaphor of ''sankin kôtai'' - despite it being a practice of a period of peace - as a military action; that is, of ''sankin kôtai'' as a military march, the movement of a lord's troops from his home domain to [[Edo]] as part of the fulfillment of that lord's feudal obligations to ''his'' lord (the shogun).
''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. These were often the largest buildings in a given town.<ref>Though there are obvious exceptions, such as in the castle-towns of Odawara, where the castle was far larger than the ''honjin''.</ref> The sole ''honjin'' at the small post-town of [[Futagawa-juku]], along the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô]] [[Highways|highway]] in [[Mikawa province]], survives today as a local history museum; the building is 17 1/2 ''[[Japanese Measurements|ken]]'' wide, and covers a space of roughly 525 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]''.<ref>Watanabe, 53.</ref> The largest ''honjin'' on the Tôkaidô 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>
A ''honjin'' might typically house a ''daimyô'' along with 20-30 (or in rare cases as many as 70-90) of his higher-level retainers,<ref name=kusatsu36>''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 36.</ref> but rarely if ever housed an entire ''sankin kôtai'' mission; not only were few (if any) ''honjin'' large enough to accommodate that many people, but the idea of lower-ranking followers sharing the same lodgings with the lord went against social norms. ''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, while the remaining, lower-ranking, members of their mission were given lodgings at ''[[hatagoya]]'' - a more regular sort of inn, frequented by individual samurai and commoner travelers. Lower-ranking members of a mission might also be housed in private homes, Buddhist temples, or Shinto shrines.
The ''honjin'' at Futagawa-juku saw as many as 100-200 elite individuals across the year, with anywhere from zero to more than forty staying at the ''honjin'' in any given month.<ref>Ina, 56.</ref> ''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 highway system as established by the shogunate did not initially include the establishment of lodgings for ''daimyô'' and others; it was in response to demand from ''daimyô'' and others that village elders or headmen (''shôya'' or ''nanushi''), or others who happened to possess sufficiently large homes in each post-town, adapted their homes to serve as lodgings for elite guests, thus giving birth to a network of ''honjin'' and ''waki-honjin''.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 176.</ref><ref name=kusatsu36/> This process was given a boost by the journey to Kyoto of Shogun [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] in [[1634]], who ordered the establishment of a number of lodgings at that time.<ref name=kusatsu36/> Additional ''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.
As a ''daimyô'' and his entourage approached a post-town, they would send a messenger ahead to alert the ''honjin'' to the ''daimyô's'' impending arrival. A special curtain was hung over the entrance, and a number of other preparations were done, including arranging small mounds of sand or salt, called ''[[morisuna]]'', and a decorative broom and bucket (known as ''kazari-hôki'' and ''kazari-oke''), outside of the inn as symbolic indications of the cleanliness and preparedness of the ''honjin''. The messenger would often exchange a ''sekifuda'', an official indication of his lord's wishes, for a receipt from the ''honjin'' confirming their acknowledgement of the reservation. When the ''daimyô'' then arrived in town, he would be greeted near the entrance to the town, and led to the ''honjin'', where a proper reception awaited. It was not uncommon for all the officials of the post-town to contribute directly to the process of receiving a ''daimyô'' (or other figure of similar status), with some officials performing the greetings and formal reception, some ensuring the streets and the ''honjin'' itself were clean and in good condition, and others overseeing guardsmen and security concerns.
Across the fifty-three stations of the [[Tokaido|Tôkaidô Highway]], there were 111 ''honjin'' and 73 ''waki-honjin''.<ref name=miyamoto167>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 167. This added up to an average of roughly two ''honjin'' and one ''waki-honjin'' per post-station. Gallery labels, Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/31363644767/sizes/l/]</ref> While some towns had only one ''honjin'' (and perhaps not even a ''waki-honjin''), larger towns often had several of each. [[Hakone]] and [[Hamamatsu]], for example, were each home to six ''honjin'', while [[Odawara]] was home to four ''honjin''.<ref>Gallery labels, Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/31363644767/sizes/l/].</ref> Across the fifty-three stations of the Tôkaidô, the average was just over two ''honjin'' per post-station.<ref name=kusatsu36/> While in most towns the ''honjin'' outnumbered the ''waki-honjin'', there were exceptions; at [[Omiya-juku|Ômiya]] on the [[Nakasendo|Nakasendô]], there were nine ''waki-honjin'' but only one ''honjin''.<ref name=miyamoto167/>
The number of nights per year that a ''honjin'' hosted elite visitors ranged quite widely from one post-station to another. Some ''honjin'' served only specific lords, and saw them only infrequently; a few ''honjin'' on the [[Nikko Dochu|road to Nikkô]] were dedicated to the service of the [[Gosanke]] Tokugawa families, and were only called upon to host these lords a few times a decade.<ref>Miyamoto Tsuneichi, ''Daimyô no tabi'' 大名の旅, Tokyo: Shakai shisô sha (1968), 43.</ref> By contrast, the ''honjin'' at Futagawa-juku saw as many as 100-200 elite individuals across the year, with parties of anywhere from zero to more than forty staying at the ''honjin'' in any given month.<ref>Ina, 56.</ref> The ''honjin'' at Ishibe might stand as a representative in-between example. Throughout the Edo period, Ishibe bounced back and forth between being occupied for as few as 20 or 25 nights a year, and as many as 50;<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 177.</ref> during the remainder of the year, it served simply as the village headman's personal home. Other ''honjin'' served concurrently as ''[[sake|saké]]'' breweries, shipping businesses, or commercial storefronts.
Similarly, the percentage of visitors who stayed overnight at the ''honjin'' rather than simply stopping briefly for a "rest" (often referred to as 休 or 小休 in documents from the time) also ranged from one ''honjin'' to another, depending on a number of factors including their location relative to major destinations, other post-stations, and river or sea crossings. At Ishibe and Toriimoto, for example, roughly 80% of the elite guests who passed through stayed overnight, whereas at Tsuchiyama, only roughly 30% stayed overnight, while the remainder merely stopped for tea, lunch, or a brief rest.<ref name=miyamoto178/> A ''honjin's'' revenues accordingly ranged widely as well; while many ''honjin'' brought in around 20-40 ''[[currency|ryô]]'' each year, some in particularly well-traveled locations, such as [[Hodogaya]], [[Mishima-juku|Mishima]], and [[Miya-juku]], regularly brought in as much as 100-150 ''ryô'' per year, during peak decades.<ref name=miyamoto178/>
''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.
Reservations were typically made anywhere from 50 days to one year in advance; reservations, as well as other communications with the ''honjin'', were sometimes made through the exchange of letters, and sometimes by having someone dispatched to the post-station to make arrangements in person. ''Honjin'' then typically provided the ''daimyô'' with a confirmation receipt (''ukesho'' 請書), and a diagram of the layout of rooms (''mitorizu'' 見取図).<ref name=kusatsu37>''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 37.</ref> 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.<ref>''Honjin'' typically gave priority to whoever had reserved earliest. However, messengers or officials representing the multiple elite guests sometimes discussed and negotiated an agreement, rather than solely leaving it up to such determinations. Further, imperial envoys, ''[[gosanke]]'' lords, and certain shogunate officials (e.g. guardsmen associated with [[Osaka castle]] or [[Nijo castle|Nijô castle]]), as a rule, typically had to cede their reservation when such conflicts arose. ''Kokushitei shiseki Kusatsu-juku honjin'', Kusatsu, Shiga: Shiseki Kusatsujuku honjin (2014), 37.</ref> ''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.
Select members of an elite entourage would typically travel several days ahead of the entourage, so as to make final arrangements at each successive post-station and to hand over ''[[sekifuda]]'' (wooden or paper plaques bearing the name of the elite guest, to be hung at the ''honjin'' and elsewhere announcing the elite guest's identity) and other things the post-station would need.
As a ''daimyô'' and his entourage approached a post-town, they would send a messenger ahead to alert the ''honjin'' to the ''daimyô's'' impending arrival. A special curtain, often bearing the visitor's ''[[kamon]]'' was hung over the entrance, paper lanterns were hung, and plaques known as ''sekifuda'' bearing his name were placed both at the ''honjin'' and at both main entrances to the town, announcing who it was that had reserved the town's lodgings for the night.<ref name=miyamoto175>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 175.</ref><ref name=futaplaques>Plaques on-site at Futagawa-juku honjin.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/45579059734/sizes/k/][https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/32430412408/sizes/l/]</ref><ref>While at most post-stations it was typical to hang the ''sekifuda'' only at the entrance to the town and at the gate of the ''honjin'', at Futagawa-juku, there were a number of sites throughout the town where ''sekifuda'' were typically displayed, including in front of the ''shimoyado'' ("lower lodgings") where a daimyo's retainers would be lodged. Gallery labels, Futagawa-juku honjin shiryôkan.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/45389864635/sizes/3k/]</ref> A number of other preparations were also performed, including arranging small mounds of sand or salt, called ''[[morisuna]]'', and a decorative broom and bucket (known as ''kazari-hôki'' and ''kazari-oke''), outside of the inn as symbolic indications of the cleanliness and preparedness of the ''honjin''.
The messenger would often exchange an official indication of his lord's wishes, for a receipt from the ''honjin'' confirming their acknowledgement of the reservation. When the ''daimyô'' then arrived in town, he would be greeted near the entrance to the town, and led to the ''honjin'', where a proper reception awaited. Following this initial reception, a ''daimyô'' would typically then move directly to the ''jôdan no ma'', a room with a slightly elevated seat, where he could then formally receive his retainers, the ''honjin'' proprietors, or others in audience.<ref name=kusatsu37/>
It was not uncommon for all the officials of the post-town to contribute directly to the process of receiving a ''daimyô'' (or other figure of similar status), with some officials performing the greetings and formal reception, some ensuring the streets and the ''honjin'' itself were clean and in good condition, and others overseeing guardsmen and security concerns. ''Daimyô'' parties commonly numbered in the hundreds, or in the thousands when one includes the many porters and other commoner workers hired to accompany the group. Such groups could not be housed solely at a single ''honjin'', or even in most cases across the multiple ''honjin'' and ''waki-honjin'' in a given town. Rather, it was quite common for as many as 150 inns (''[[hatagoya]]'') and private homes, often the majority of the town as a whole, to be given over to the task of housing middle- and lower-ranking members of a traveling party; such additional spaces were known as ''shimo yado'' (lit. "lower lodgings").<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 173, 179-180.</ref>
While some records seem to suggest that ''daimyô'' (or, more likely senior members of their retainer band) were charged and directly paid a set amount of silver to the ''honjin'' or to the town authorities for their stay,<ref>Watanabe, 60-61, 73-74.</ref> historian Miyamoto Tsuneichi writes that ''honjin'' operators neither asked for, nor typically directly received, payment for their services, but rather simply exchanged gifts with the ''daimyô'', the amount received typically exceeding that which they would have officially charged. Where it was insufficient, sometimes a considerate and observant ''[[karo|karô]]'' would make up the difference.<ref name=miyamoto175/> According to the exhibit catalog of the Kusatsu-juku ''honjin'', there was no set rate, but rather payment took the form of ''kashi'' 下賜,<ref name=kusatsu36/> something a lord bestowed upon his retainers or others in his service; in this way, the gifts and services exchanged between a lord and a ''honjin'' operator tied the operator to the lord's service in a way not entirely unlike his relationship with his samurai retainers. Unlike ''daimyô'', however, retainers generally paid a set rate. Since ''honjin'' could not explicitly ask for an amount according with their costs, many ''honjin'' frequently went into the red.<ref name=kusatsu36/>
''Honjin'' lost their special status in [[1871]], officially (legally) becoming no different from regular inns, in the aftermath of the shogunate's loosening of ''sankin kôtai'' obligations in [[1863]], and the collapse of the shogunate five years later.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Daimyô no tabi'', 47.</ref>
==Layout==
[[File:Futagawa-goza.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The ''jôdan no ma'' at the ''honjin'' at Futagawa-juku.]]
[[File:Futagawa-itanoma.jpg|right|thumb|400px|The ''ita no ma'' luggage storage space at the ''honjin'' at Futagawa-juku.]]
''Honjin'' were often the largest buildings in a given town.<ref>Though there are obvious exceptions, such as in castle-towns such as Odawara, where the castle was far larger than the ''honjin''.</ref> The sole ''honjin'' at the small post-town of [[Futagawa-juku]], along the Tôkaidô in [[Mikawa province]], survives today as a local history museum; the building is 17 1/2 ''[[Japanese Measurements|ken]]'' wide, and covers a space of roughly 525 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]''.<ref>Watanabe, 53.</ref> The largest ''honjin'' on the Tôkaidô 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> Some of the largest ''honjin'' at other post-stations included those at [[Narumi-juku]] (676.5 ''tsubo''), [[Kusatsu-juku]] (459 ''tsubo''), and [[Otsu|Ôtsu]] (394.5 ''tsubo''). In total, there were thirteen post-stations which featured ''honjin'' larger than 300 ''tsubo''. Most boasted some thirty to fifty rooms.<ref name=kusatsu36/> Most ''waki-honjin'', by comparison, were around 100 ''tsubo'' in area.<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 168-169.</ref> The many rooms at the ''honjin'' at Ishibe totalled 264 tatami in area. As Ishibe typically saw on average parties of 28 guests at once, we can estimate that each member of that party would have had an area of 9-10 tatami to himself; when a larger party stayed at the ''honjin'', each individual might have as little as four tatami mats to themselves. However, this is an average, and as the ''daimyô'' would have claimed a disproportionate amount of space to himself, we can presume retainers would most often have been forced to share an even smaller amount of space.<ref name=miyamoto178>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 178-179.</ref>
''Honjin'' often fronted directly onto the main road around which the town was built - e.g. a highway such as the Tôkaidô - and had a formal front gate, guardhouse, and ''genkan'' (entranceway/foyer) decorated with curtains ceremonially welcoming a formal guest such as a ''daimyô''. The ''daimyô'' would typically leave his [[palanquin]] at a designated spot (known as a ''shikidai'') near the front gate and enter the building via the ''genkan'', being formally received there and then led deeper into the building. While staying at a ''honjin'', a ''daimyô'' was typically given the use of a space known as the ''goza no ma'' or ''jôdan no ma'', a room with a slightly elevated tatami platform where the ''daimyô'' could sit and receive others, seated physically above them. Such rooms were typically furnished with a ''[[tokonoma]]'' and ''[[shoin-zukuri]]'' furnishings, contributing to its function as a proxy for equivalent audience hall or ''shoin'' spaces at the lord's own mansions.<ref name=futaplaques/> Guardhouses at both the front and rear gates of the ''honjin'' were maintained for the use of visiting ''daimyô's'' retainers, who would be assigned in turn to stand guard; the rear gate functioned primarily as an emergency escape route.<ref name=futaplaques/>
A ''shitomido'' latticed shutter to one side of the entrance of a ''honjin'' provided access to a storage space known as the ''ita no ma'' ("plank room"), allowing a visiting entourage to load luggage boxes and the like directly from the road into the ''honjin's'' storage. As the name suggests, this space had a solid wooden-plank floor, not lined with tatami.<ref name=futaplaques/>
''Honjin'' also contained residential spaces for the family who owned and operated the lodgings, as well as a ''doma'' (earthen-floor) kitchen, ''yudono'' bath, and lavatories. ''Daimyô'' and other elite travelers typically brought their own cooks and a certain amount of foodstuffs and equipment with them (incl. rice, soy sauce, miso, cooking pots, and buckets), but had the ''honjin'' provide food as well.<ref name=kusatsu36/>
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