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Tōkaidō, photographed by Felice Beato in 1865.

The Tōkaidō (東海道, East Sea Road^?) was the most important of the Five Routes of the Edo period, connecting Edo (modern-day Tokyo) to Kyoto in Japan. Unlike the inland and less heavily travelled Nakasendō, the Tōkaidō travelled along the sea coast of eastern Honshū, hence the route's name.

Traveling the Tōkaidō

Nissaka-shuku, the 25th station on the Tōkaidō, as illustrated by the ukiyo-e master Hiroshige. This print is from the first (Hoeiko) edition of The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō.

The standard method of travel was by foot, as wheeled carts were almost non-existent and heavy cargo was usually sent by boat. Members of the higher class, however, traveled by kago. Women were forbidden to travel alone and had to be accompanied by men. Other restrictions were also put in place for travelers, but, while severe penalties existed for various travel regulations, most seemed not to be enforced.

There were government-sanctioned post stations along the Tōkaidō for travelers to rest in. These stations consisted of porter stations and horse stables, as well as lodging, food and other places a traveller may visit. The original Tōkaidō was made up of 53 stations between the termination points of Edo and Kyoto. At a few points along the route, there were checkpoints where travelers had to present traveling permits to pass.

Travel, particularly along the Tōkaidō, was a very popular topic in art and literature at the time. The famous artist Hiroshige depicted each of the 53 post stations (shukuba) of the Tōkaidō in his work The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, and the haiku poet Matsuo Bashō travelled along the road. A great many guidebooks of famous places were published and distributed at this time, and a culture of virtual tourism through books and pictures thrived. Jippensha Ikku's Tōkaidōchū Hizakurige, translated as "The Shank's Mare", is one of the more famous novels about a journey along the Tōkaidō.

Ōsaka Kaidō

In 1619, the Ōsaka Kaidō (大阪街道) was established, adding four more stations after Ōtsu-juku. These additions extended the route to Kōraibashi in Osaka. This extension was also called the Kyōkaido (京街道), or was described as being a part of the 57 stations of the Tōkaidō.

Modern-day Tōkaidō

Today, the Tōkaidō corridor is the most heavily travelled transportation corridor in Japan, connecting Greater Tokyo (including the capital Tokyo as well as Japan's second largest city Yokohama) to Nagoya (fourth largest), and then to Osaka (third largest) via Kyoto. The Tokyo-Nagoya-Kyoto-Osaka route is followed by the JR Tōkaidō Main Line and Tōkaidō Shinkansen, as well as the Tōmei and Meishin expressways.

References

• Traganeou, Jilly. 2004. The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan. London: RoutledgeCurzon. 10-ISBN 0-415-31091-1; 13-ISBN 978-0-415-31091-8 (cloth)
• Vaporis, Constantine Nomikos. 1994. Breaking Barriers. Travel and the State in Early Modern Japan." Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-08107-2 (http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Barriers-Travel-Harvard-Monographs/dp/0674081072/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219068536&sr=8-1)

See also

• Edo Five Routes
• Japan National Route 1
• Tōkaidō Main Line
• Tōkaidō Shinkansen
• Namamugi Incident

External links

• Walking the 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō (Japanese)
• Walk the Tōkaidō - an interactive tour down the road.
• Travel Tōkaidō - from U.S. Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
• The Old Tōkaidō: The Eastern Sea Road - Teacher James Baquet's log of a walk along the entire Tōkaidō, with photos and comparisons to Hiroshige's prints.
• The Fifty Three Stations of the Tokaido Road - by Ando Hiroshige

• Arranged by station
• Tōkaidō map

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 17 September 2008, at 15:29.

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