Changes

*''Japanese'': 東海道 ''(Toukaidou)''

*''Japanese'': 東海道 ''(Toukaidou)''

The Tôkaidô (lit. "Eastern Sea Road") was one of the main arteries of the realm, connecting [[Kyoto]] in the west and the eastern provinces (in the early modern period, the shogunal capital of [[Edo]]); the road came to particular prominence in the [[Edo period]], as the busiest, most famous, and most important highway in Japan. Famed in both art and literature, the Tôkaidô carried massive ''daimyô'' entourages traveling to and from the shogunal capital on ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys; individual travelers and pilgrims; shogunal, imperial, and other officials on official business; merchants shipping all sorts of goods; and foreign embassies; as well as messengers and the like.

The Tôkaidô (lit. "Eastern Sea Road") was one of the main arteries of the realm, connecting [[Kyoto]] in the west and the eastern provinces (in the early modern period, the shogunal capital of [[Edo]]); the road came to particular prominence in the [[Edo period]], as the busiest, most famous, and most important highway in Japan. Famed in both art and literature, the Tôkaidô carried massive ''daimyô'' entourages traveling to and from the shogunal capital on ''[[sankin kotai|sankin kôtai]]'' journeys; thousands of individual travelers and pilgrims;<ref>Carey, 40.</ref> shogunal, imperial, and other officials on official business; merchants shipping all sorts of goods; and foreign embassies; as well as messengers and the like.

The road runs roughly 300 miles<ref name=linking>Constantine Vaporis, "Linking the Realm: The Gokaidô Highway Network in Early Modern Japan," in Susan Alcock et al (eds.) ''Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World'', Wiley-Blackwell (2012), 90-105.</ref> from Tokyo to Kyoto, mostly near the Pacific coast. Today, the National Route #1 expressway and Tôkaidô Main Line train line run along the old route.

The road runs roughly 300 miles<ref name=linking>Constantine Vaporis, "Linking the Realm: The Gokaidô Highway Network in Early Modern Japan," in Susan Alcock et al (eds.) ''Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World'', Wiley-Blackwell (2012), 90-105.</ref> from Tokyo to Kyoto, mostly near the Pacific coast. Today, the National Route #1 expressway and Tôkaidô Main Line train line run along the old route.

[[File:Hiroshige - Tokaido53 Seki.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"Seki" from the "53 Stations of the Tokaido" ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' woodblock print series by Hiroshige]]In the Edo period, the Tôkaidô was more formally organized, with fifty-three official [[post-stations]] (''shukuba''), and a series of checkpoints (''[[sekisho]]''). The fifty-three stations were formally established in [[1601]]/1, and the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] renovation, or re-establishment, of the highway as a whole is generally said to have been completed by [[1624]].<ref>''Hosokawa-ke monjo: ezu, chizu, sashizu hen II'' 細川家文書：絵図・地図・指図編 II, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (2013), 197.</ref>

[[File:Hiroshige - Tokaido53 Seki.jpg|right|thumb|300px|"Seki" from the "53 Stations of the Tokaido" ''[[ukiyo-e]]'' woodblock print series by Hiroshige]]In the Edo period, the Tôkaidô was more formally organized, with fifty-three official [[post-stations]] (''shukuba''), and a series of checkpoints (''[[sekisho]]''). The fifty-three stations were formally established in [[1601]]/1, and the [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa]] renovation, or re-establishment, of the highway as a whole is generally said to have been completed by [[1624]].<ref>''Hosokawa-ke monjo: ezu, chizu, sashizu hen II'' 細川家文書：絵図・地図・指図編 II, Tokyo: Yoshikawa kôbunkan (2013), 197.</ref>

Inns, warehouses, ''[[hikyaku]]'' messenger services, post-horses, brothels, and the like quickly developed along the road. Though previously conceived of as beginning in Kyoto and ending somewhere in the Musashino area, the Edo period Tôkaidô was thought of as running in the opposite direction; it officially began at [[Nihonbashi]], in Edo, and ended at Sanjô Ôhashi (Sanjô Bridge) in Kyoto, with an extension running to Osaka.

Inns, warehouses, ''[[hikyaku]]'' messenger services, post-horses, brothels, and the like quickly developed along the road. At the peak, there were some 111 ''[[honjin]]'' and 73 ''waki-honjin'' (special lodgings for elite visitors such as ''daimyô'', shogunal officials, and foreign embassies) along the road, as well as hundreds if not a few thousand ''[[hatagoya]]'' (inns).<ref>Miyamoto Tsuneichi 宮本常一, ''Nihon no shuku'' 日本の宿, Tokyo: Shakai shisôsha (1965), 167. Most post-stations had 50 to 200 inns each. Carey, 39.</ref> Though previously conceived of as beginning in Kyoto and ending somewhere in the Musashino area, the Edo period Tôkaidô was thought of as running in the opposite direction; it officially began at [[Nihonbashi]], in Edo, and ended at Sanjô Ôhashi (Sanjô Bridge) in Kyoto, with an extension running to Osaka.

One of the most famous ''sekisho'' was established at [[Hakone]] in [[1619]], controlling the western entrance into the Kantô.

One of the most famous ''sekisho'' was established at [[Hakone]] in [[1619]], controlling the western entrance into the Kantô.

The vast majority of travelers walked the Tôkaidô. For an individual, the journey typically took about thirteen days on average.<ref>Plaques at the Odawara post station.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8396933861/sizes/l]</ref> Large groups, such as a ''daimyô's sankin kôtai'' entourage, moved more slowly.

About 146 ''sankin kôtai'' groups traveled the Tôkaidô each year,<ref>Miyamoto, ''Nihon no shuku'', 174.</ref> in addition to shogunal officials, imperial envoys, merchants, messengers, pilgrims, and the occasional foreign embassy. The vast majority of travelers walked the Tôkaidô. For an individual, the journey typically took about thirteen days on average.<ref>Plaques at the Odawara post station.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/8396933861/sizes/l]</ref> Large groups, such as a ''daimyô's sankin kôtai'' entourage, moved more slowly, about ten ''ri'' a day.<ref>Yamamoto Hirofumi 山本博文, ''Sankin kôtai'' 参勤交代, Kodansha gendai shinsho (1998), 110.</ref>

Though considered a single highway, there were a number of rivers which were not bridged by the Tôkaidô. Rather, travelers were left to take ferries across. Regulations were put into place, however, requiring that travelers cross at these designated crossings, and not at other locations up- or down-river. In total, the Tôkaidô journey included eight river crossings by ferry, and four rivers where travelers had to ford the river on their own. Bridges were built and maintained at several other river crossings along the route, where the bridges were less likely to be lost in flash floods.<ref name=linking/> The crossing at Shichiri-no-watari, connecting [[Miya-juku]] and [[Kuwana]] across the tip of [[Ise Bay]], was widely considered the most dangerous of these water crossings. The so-called [[Saya kaido|Saya Kaidô]] was a short detour from the Tôkaidô, combining overland sections and ferry boats, which provided a safer alternative; both [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] and the [[Meiji Emperor]] are known to have taken advantage of this detour. Following a disaster in the Shichiri-no-watashi crossing in [[1671]], [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] similarly took portions of the [[Nakasendo|Nakasendô]] and [[Mino Road]] as a detour, in order to avoid Shichiri-no-watari.

Though considered a single highway, there were a number of rivers which were not bridged by the Tôkaidô. Rather, travelers were left to take ferries across. Regulations were put into place, however, requiring that travelers cross at these designated crossings, and not at other locations up- or down-river. In total, the Tôkaidô journey included eight river crossings by ferry, and four rivers where travelers had to ford the river on their own. Bridges were built and maintained at several other river crossings along the route, where the bridges were less likely to be lost in flash floods.<ref name=linking/> The crossing at Shichiri-no-watari, connecting [[Miya-juku]] and [[Kuwana]] across the tip of [[Ise Bay]], was widely considered the most dangerous of these water crossings. The so-called [[Saya kaido|Saya Kaidô]] was a short detour from the Tôkaidô, combining overland sections and ferry boats, which provided a safer alternative; both [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Iemochi]] and the [[Meiji Emperor]] are known to have taken advantage of this detour. Following a disaster in the Shichiri-no-watashi crossing in [[1671]], [[Ryukyuan embassies to Edo]] similarly took portions of the [[Nakasendo|Nakasendô]] and [[Mino Road]] as a detour, in order to avoid Shichiri-no-watari.

#[[Yoshida-juku]]

#[[Yoshida-juku]]

#[[Goyu]]

#[[Goyu]]

#[[Akasaka-juku]]

#[[Akasaka-juku (Tokaido)|Akasaka-juku]]

#[[Fujikawa]]

#[[Fujikawa]]

#[[Okazaki-juku]]

#[[Okazaki-juku]]

==Modern Period==

==Modern Period==

The Tôkaidô Main Line, linking Kyoto and Tokyo by rail, opened in [[1889]].

The Tôkaidô Main Line, linking [[Kobe]] and Tokyo by rail (via Osaka and Kyoto), opened in [[1889]].

==References==

==References==

*''Rekishi no michi Tôkaidô'' 歴史の道～東海道～, Toyohashi City Museum & Art Museum (2001).

*''Rekishi no michi Tôkaidô'' 歴史の道～東海道～, Toyohashi City Museum & Art Museum (2001).

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