The Tôkaidô Main Line, linking [[Kobe]] and Tokyo by rail (via Osaka and Kyoto), opened in [[1889]].
The Tôkaidô Main Line, linking [[Kobe]] and Tokyo by rail (via Osaka and Kyoto), opened in [[1889]].
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By the 1910s, [[rickshaw]]s (a [[Bakumatsu]]/[[Meiji period]] innovation) were a common sight along the Tôkaidô. One notable traveler, [[Frederick Starr]], rode in a rickshaw, and at times aboard a train, along the Tôkaidô route, but makes no mention of automobiles traveling the road at that time. About a decade later, however, in 1923, the Ford Motor Company arranged for a Ford car (probably a Model T) and truck to be driven the length of the country, from [[Kyushu]] to [[Hokkaido]], including for some distance along the Tôkaidô.<ref>Carey, 43-44.</ref>