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Eastern Sea Road

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#113 [2004-04-22 08:11:16]

Eastern Sea Road

by warg3791

Found a little piece on the road (one of them anyway) between Kyoto
and Edo. This might have been the road our boys took when they first
came to Kyoto. Also, this may be helpful to those who write fanfics
(at least the RK ones, where there is a lot of coming and going
between the two cities) which is why I'm posting it here. This is
from a book called Reader's Digest Everyday Life Through the Ages
(1992) ISBN# 0-276-42035-7 (Be forewarned there are only four pages
in the whole book on Japan.)

"Grains and goods made by craftsmen were carried from place to place
on a network of roads which included the Eastern Sea Road. This
highway, 300 miles (480 km) long, connected Kyoto and Edo, and at the
time it was probably the world's busiest road. A constant traffic of
merchants, government officials, pilgrims, priests and doctors
travelled along it.

"Most people travelled by horse or on foot, and it took 20 to 30 days
for pedestrians to complete the journey. The few wheeled vehicles
were used to carry very heavy loads. There were incessant stops at
checkpoints where the agents of the shogun kept a watchful eye on
travellers. Their main concern was to give the shogun advance warning
of powerful local lords on the move with large bodies of armed men."

[Next #114]

#114 [2004-04-22 18:19:16]

Re: Eastern Sea Road

by secretarytocapt3

Toshizo.com has a basic chronology of where the boys stopped at and
the dates, inns etc (one of links on the column on the left)...I'm not
sure if it is worth babelfishing or not though

--- In SHQ_Spy_Division@yahoogroups.com, "warg3791" wrote:
> Found a little piece on the road (one of them anyway) between Kyoto
> and Edo. This might have been the road our boys took when they first
> came to Kyoto. Also, this may be helpful to those who write fanfics
> (at least the RK ones, where there is a lot of coming and going
> between the two cities) which is why I'm posting it here. This is
> from a book called Reader's Digest Everyday Life Through the Ages
> (1992) ISBN# 0-276-42035-7 (Be forewarned there are only four pages
> in the whole book on Japan.)
>
> "Grains and goods made by craftsmen were carried from place to place
> on a network of roads which included the Eastern Sea Road. This
> highway, 300 miles (480 km) long, connected Kyoto and Edo, and at the
> time it was probably the world's busiest road. A constant traffic of
> merchants, government officials, pilgrims, priests and doctors
> travelled along it.
>
> "Most people travelled by horse or on foot, and it took 20 to 30 days
> for pedestrians to complete the journey. The few wheeled vehicles
> were used to carry very heavy loads. There were incessant stops at
> checkpoints where the agents of the shogun kept a watchful eye on
> travellers. Their main concern was to give the shogun advance warning
> of powerful local lords on the move with large bodies of armed men."

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