Pilgrimage

The idea of making a pilgrimage to visit religious places is present in nearly every culture and religion. In Japan, it is typical of both major religions, Buddhism and Shinto... Read more...
The Shinkansen

The Shinkansen is commonly known outside Japan as the 'bullet train' but the word actually means 'new trunk line'. It is a high-speed passenger train system which now stretches from... Read more...
Kyoto Development Issues

Kyoto holds a unique position in Japan as the ancient, imperial capital and the cultural center of the nation. It was because of these reasons that the Japan specialists who... Read more...
Castle Towns

At the time of the Meiji Restoration, in 1868, some 250 castle towns (jokamachi) formed the core of a well developed urban network in Japan. Although constructed primarily as defended... Read more...
The Ashita Honjin

Although only a small town, Ashita boasts the oldest surviving honjin on the Nakasendo. It has also been owned by the same family since its' original construction in the late... Read more...
Omote-ura - Public and Private Faces

Omote (the public face) and ura (the private face) are twin concepts that are applied to almost any aspect of Japan or life in Japan. Omote refers to the image... Read more...
Landslides

The mountains in Japan are very steep and the rocks unstable due to weathering. Landslides are common whenever there are heavy rains. Many rural villages have established themselves along the... Read more...
Namiki

The idea of planting trees along the roadside to provide shade for travelers had occurred to the Chinese when they developed their highway system more than 2000 years ago. Almost... Read more...

Go-Kaido

Express Post

In the 17th century, the Edo shogunate authorities placed strong emphasis on revitalizing the highway system to ensure that orders and messages could be relayed quickly, efficiently, and safely between Edo and the provinces. This was essential for effective government. Among the many different types of travelers regularly seen along the ‘Five Roads’ were runners,… [Read more]

Sankin Kotai and the Hostage System

Alternate residence duty, or sankin kotai, was a system developed in the Warring States period and perfected by the Tokugawa shogunate. In essence, the system demanded simply that daimyo reside in the Tokugawa castle at Edo for periods of time, alternating with residence at the daimyo’s own castle. When a daimyo was not residing in… [Read more]

Sankin Kotai and the Hostage System

The Five Roads

There are five highways (“gokaido”) in Japan which were formally established during the Edo period as the official routes which the daimyo should follow on sankin kotai processions. All of them terminated at Nihonbashi in the center of Edo. They are the: * Tokaido, which runs from Kyoto to Edo following the Pacific coast and coastal… [Read more]