Introduction
Hey hey, my name is Thersa Matsuura, author of The Book of Japanese Folklore* and podcaster here at Uncanny Japan, where I tell you about the more obscure nooks and crannies of Japanese culture.
Today’s show is part of a fun mini-series that has been made possible thanks to our sponsor Explore! They offer small group adventures with local – on the ground – expert leaders and I really think you’re going to like them.
The Five Edo Routes (Gokaido)
In today’s episode, I’ll be taking you on a stroll along the walking routes of old Edo. There were five main ones, called the Gokaido, The Five Edo Routes or the Five Historical Roads of Japan. All five started at the same exact point on the Nihon Bashi Bridge in then-Edo, now-Tokyo. Three were shorter and meandered up north. Those were the Koshu Kaido, Oshu Kaido, and Nikko-Kaido, but today let’s learn specifically about the two longer ones that led travelers to the old capital of Kyoto, the Tokaido and the Nakasendo.
Life on the Road in 1645
Imagine, it’s a brisk February, 1645, and you’re standing in a line. Ahead and behind you are all manner of merchants and tradesmen, some with long poles across their shoulders, balancing their wares in a basket on either end. Others are leading small horses loaded down with packages. There are even men and women in fine kimono being carried in fancy kago with their own entourage.
As for you, all you have is the bundle on your back. You’re dressed up in your traveling attire – your sugegasa straw conical hat is still tightly in place around your chin, but your woven waraji sandals have come loose from the day’s walking and are starting to rub your tabi socks against your skin and form blisters. You’ll have to re-tie those once you get a chance.
The dark gate of Hakone Sekisho looms in front of you. There was a commotion a little earlier and the gossip that came down the line is that the officers caught a woman disguised as a man. Someone said she was a Daimyo’s wife that they were trying to smuggle out of the city.
You know how notoriously strict this Hakone checkpoint is and also that they have a prison right here on the premises. You wonder if you should have taken the other route to the old capital, the Nakasendo.
Sure the Nakasendo takes longer, 15 to 20 days where the Tokaido only takes 10 to 15. It’s also a more difficult walk – going through the center of Japan, it’s much more mountainous and cold. But it is supposed to be stunningly beautiful and not as crowded as the route you’re on, the Tokaido. Also, not as many rivers.
The wind kicks up and you tremble a little under your indigo-dyed hikimawashi kappa pull-around cape with its fancy bone clasps. Under it you’re nervously gripping your tsuko tegata – that rectangular piece of wood that acts like a passport when traveling. It has all your vital information: name, age, destination, local government seal.
You’re a teacher – a budding poet actually – and it’s always been your dream to visit the old capital of Kyoto. You want to see where the Tale of Genji took place, walk through the ethereal bamboo groves of Arashiyama, see Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion doubled in the pond and glittering in the sunset.
But that’s still another 10 day-walk away. Right now you want to make it through the checkpoint, pay your respects at the Hakone Jinja, and then go soak your aching feet and muscles in the Miyanoshita hot spring.
The Tokugawa Peace
It wasn’t that long ago that the whole country was fragmented into numerous warring states, each one ruled by a powerful daimyo (feudal lord) and everyone was fighting each other. There was so much intrigue, shifting alliances, rebellions, bloodshed and instability.
But then came Tokugawa Ieyasu, the shogunate who ended up bringing peace to the country that’s going to last over 250 years. He did this by implementing all kinds of stuff, some good, some not so good.
There were things like emphasizing a strict social order where society is now divided into four distinct classes (samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants). And imposing the infamous sakoku policies, which isolated Japan for the most part from all of the outside world.
This kept out Christianity, but also new technologies and global developments. For example, medicine. While the rest of the world had adopted Jenner’s cowpox vaccine and the absolute deadly travesty of smallpox was mitigated, Japan continued to suffer for many more years because of this isolationism.
Sankin-Kotai System
Another important thing Ieyasu did was establish a centralized military government in Edo (Tokyo) that was able to keep down all those pesky daimyo’s and their power hungry armies. One way he did this was by something called the sankin kotai which meant that those same daimyo had to spend alternating years in their own provinces and then in Edo.
When the daimyo went back home, though, his family was made to remain in the capital, effectively making them hostages, you know, in case the feudal lords got any bright ideas to rise up against a certain Tokugawa Ieyasu.
This sankin-kotai also made sure the daimyo’s never acquired too much wealth (which could be used to start up another rebellion) because every other year they had to travel with all their servants, samurai, and baggage along one of the Gokaido. And they had to keep up both residences, one in the home province and one in Edo. All quite expensive.
Development of the Roads
However, a little bonus to all that pricy traveling was that it stimulated the development of the roads. Which was another thing Tokugawa Ieyasu was really keen on.
Using that spot on the Nihon Bashi Bridge in the capital of Edo as the starting point, Ieyasu took five rough walking routes and had them refurbished. He made these – basically narrow footpaths – widened, straighter, and overall nicer.
He made sure they were passable year round, had some dangerous and steep sections paved for easier travel, and built drainage systems to prevent erosion. Distance markers were also added every Ri (or 3.93 km, 2.44 miles), so you’d know how far along you were on your journy. Even trees were planted along the way to provide shade to the weary traveler in the hotter months.
The Tokaido vs. Nakasendo
Of these Gokaido, the two most important ones were Tokaido and Nakasendo, both connecting Edo to Kyoto. Tokaido was the most popular coastal route. In some ways it was said to be easier because it was shorter and flatter and the weather nicer in the winter.
The Nakasendo trail, on the other hand, passed through the middle of the island of Honshu. It took a little longer, because of the mountainous parts, but was less crowded and said to have gorgeous scenery.
Speaking of Nakasendo. These days, sadly, the Tokaido (the one I live right next to) has lost almost all of its past glory. But there are still parts of the Nakasendo that can be trekked and retain the romantic flavor of old Edo Japan.
One of our sponsor Explore’s trips is called Walk Japan. It’s a total of twelve days with eight of them involving you trekking all kinds of historical routes from Tokyo to Kyoto.
One of those hikes is along a beautiful section of the Nakasendo located in the peaceful Kiso Valley, from Magome and Tsumago.
If that sounds interesting you can visit the Uncanny Japan website where I’ll have a link and thumbnail directly to our sponsor Explore’s “Walk Japan–Kumano Kodo Trail”. Or you can go directly and visit Exlporeworldwide.com and check out that and all the other adventures their local expert tour leaders will take you on.
Shukuba: Staging Post Stations
Another interesting and lively part of the gokaido highways were the Shukuba or in English the Staging Post Stations. They were also called Shuku eki.
These were stops along the highway that provided rest, lodging, and support for travelers.
You could find restaurants, tea houses, and outdoor food stalls with all sorts of local specialties. There were stables available for your horses or other animals if you were traveling with those. You could even change out horses if need be or rent some.
Shukuba could be raucous places where you could meet people from other parts of Japan, exchange news and gossip, recipes, trends, customs, and even ghost stories.
Tokaido had 53 of these shukuba and Nakasendo had 69. They were spaced about an easy day’s walk from one to the other. If you want to see what they looked like check out Utagawa Hiroshige’s collection of prints called: Fifty three stations of Tokaido (Tokaido Gojusan Tsugi).
He also collaborated with an artist named Keisai Eisen to create a set for Naksendo. It’s called Kisokaido – which is another name for Nakasendo. Hiroshige produced 47 prints and Keisai did the rest. Its official name is Kisokaido Rokujukyu Tsugi – The sixty nine stations of Kisokaido, But there are actually 71 images because they added the starting point of Nihon Bashi and Nakatsugawa Juku.
I really recommend checking them out, every single image is a delight, showing the beautiful landscapes and the daily life of the travelers. So many quaint and enlightening details.
Checkpoints and Security
But don’t forget it wasn’t all fun and games. At certain strategic shukuba you’d have the sekisho, mentioned earlier, the government controlled checkpoints to regulate travel, collect taxes, make sure all was on the up and up.
There was a saying back then: “Iri deppo ni de onna.” Or “Incoming guns, outgoing women.” What did that mean?
Well, if someone (Fuedal lord) was trying to smuggle guns into the capital or if someone (Fuedal lord) was dressing his wife and family up to look like men and trying to sneak them OUT of the capital it was a red flag that a revolt was about to happen. Use the guns to fight and get the family out of harm’s way before it happens.
So this is why the Hakone Shukuba or Hakone Juku was particularly strict. It’s a natural choke point on the Tokaido route that’s long been a strategically important pass when moving armies or staving off invasions.
River Crossings and Challenges
Another strategic move by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Rivers. Here let me tell you another saying from that time period.
箱根八里は馬でも越すが、越すに越されぬ大井川 Hakone hachi ri wa uma demo kosu ga、 kosu ni kosarenu oigawa.
Real quick 8 Ri is about 31.4 km or 19.5 miles.
So the proverb means: “While it’s possible to pass through the most difficult 8-Ri Hakone section on a horse, the thing you cannot pass is the Oi River.”
Ieyasu was smart. Despite all the revamping and modernizing of the gokaido, one thing he steadfastly didn’t do was to build bridges.
By not having permanent bridges in place it would be much easier to disrupt the movement of large groups, like an invading army for example, who got it into their heads to try and overthrow the Tokugawa reign.
Instead, once you got to one of the rivers – like the Oigawa which is like a ten minute walk from my home – you’d have to hire a Kawagoe or river porter. These were men who literally carried you and your stuff across the shallow parts of rivers. And they charged by how deep the water came on their bodies. Knee deep was cheaper than waist deep. Chest deep was expensive.
So while the Tokaido coastal route usually had better weather and was flatter terrain and shorter, thus easier to travel, and it WAS the more crowded (It’s said 150 daimyos used this route when they returned to Edo every other year, while only 30 preferred the Nakasendo) some people really didn’t like it because of the river problem.
Weather was unpredictable, so if there was a lot of rain and the river was high, the price to hire someone to carry you across also rose and became incredibly expensive.
People would then have to stay for a few days in nearby inns, waiting for the water to recede some, so they could finally get on with their journey. But the innkeepers weren’t dummies. They jacked up their prices, too.
Meisho Zue: Historical Guidebooks
Okay. Let’s talk about one more fun thing about these old walking routes. Guidebooks. They were called meisho zue or “illustrated guides of famous places” and were sold all over. They were very popular because they included scenic spots, local temples and shrines, historical sites, different lodgings that were available, local products, specialties and festivals.
But they weren’t just informative illustrated books, they were also for entertainment. So mixed in with the practical information you could also find mention of mythical figures and supernatural events and local heroes. A certain waterfall may be inhabited by a dragon. An out of the way ojizo statue might cure that wart you have on your face.
Imagine trekking through the forest to get to the Hakone Checkpoint and reading about stories of yamauba mountain witches that live there and eat travelers when the mood strikes.
It’s even believed that the tofu kozo yokai might have been born from one of these booklets, the Edo Meisho Zue. The theory is that an enterprising shop owner invented it as an advertising mascot for its brand of tofu and the little yokai just took off in popularity.
Closing Thoughts
Now let me leave you with a poem. A poem you might have composed while on your journey so long ago. But that’s only if you are a reincarnation of Matsuo Basho, the famous haiku poet, because he also traveled these old routes and wrote quite a bit while doing so. This is one of his poems and it’s said to express the weariness of traveling for a long time. It was written around 1684.
Toshi kurenu
Kasa kite
Waraji hakinagara
The year ends…
Still wearing my hat
Still in my straw sandals
Thank you all for listening, I’ll talk to you again in two weeks.
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