Getting Ready for the Trip

I've always wanted to have a walking journey. The idea of going from one place to another just on foot amazes me. How many places do most of us walk to? What kind of places do we walk to? Living in Tokyo, I think I do a fair amount of walking. Yet mostly it consists of walking to and from the fastest transportation I can use to get to my destination. If we're going somewhere, usually we take the fastest, or as fast as economically viable, means available to us. I really like taking the train, but as more trains are moving to lines underground, my experience of Tokyo is like a moles. I go underground, travel, and then I pop up at a new location. I nose around that location a bit, and the underground I go to get to another place. The effect is that I get to know certain areas but not so much about how they connect together. In a few cases, it's almost hard to get from one area to another because I don't know some of the in between.

Walking gives some understanding of the transition and interconnectedness between places. It's like hearing a whole secret instead of a soundbite.

The Stats:
Tokaido was built in Edo period by the commad of Tokugawa Yaesu. The name means Eastern Sea Road. It runs from Nihonbashi in Tokyo (Edo) for 492 km to Sanjo Oohashi in Kyoto. There are fifty-three stations along the way. Most foreigners know of Tokaido because of the beautiful Ukiyoe prints by Hiroshige Ando depicting a view from each station The series is called "The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido".

When I started to research this trip, I found out that it was common for women to walk this trip in about thirteen days. An upperclass woman probably travelled in a palanquin which was carried by men. But for the women who didn't warrant such treatment, they could seriously haul!

Even more amazing is the footwear of the time! I wouldn't dream of starting this trip without a nice, comfortable, blistering-free trainer. Most of these women were wearing a straw sandal called waraji.

I didn't find an English guide book but I found one in Japanese that I could muddle through. It had maps, distances and some main points. I suppose an Eglish title would be "Tokaido: 53 Stations Guide" by the Tokaido Network Group 21. If your browser supports Japanese script, it should be：東海道五十三次ガイド　ｂｙ　東海道ネットワークの会２１．