The journey the rest of the way to Edo was often routine, but it still involved considerable difficulties. It entailed a forced march of ten or eleven days, and there were potential trouble spots that any procession had to pass through, particularly the numerous rivers that had to be forded. Moreover, as the road between Osaka and Edo was the most heavily traveled in the realm, a proces- table 2.1. Tosa Domain Processions*
Forward Main Following
Year Group Group Group Total
1645 (Shōhō 2) — — — 1477 1676 (Enpō 4) 278 1249 — 1527 1680 (Enpō 8) 320 1413 — 1799 1682 (Tenna 2) 291 1375 — 1666 1684 (Jōkyō 1) 436 1269 320 2025 1688 (Genroku 1) 471 1474 586 2531 1690 (Genroku 3) 430 1592 753 2775 1697 (Genroku 10) — — — 2813 1698 (Genroku 11) 644 1525 446 2615 1718 (Kyōhō 3) — — — 1799
* Based on information from Hirao n.d.; ms. YKS, vols. 18, 43, 58, 65, 78, 86, 89. In 1688, the forward group left on 3/1, the main group on 3/10, and the following group on 3/27.
table 2.2. Mori Hirosada’s Trip to Edo, 1732*
Date Travel Note
3/3 Board boat in Kōchi; anchor for night at Urada port (Kōchi) 3/4–3/6 Delay at Urado due to inadequate winds, bad current, hard rain;
send letter home
3/7 Depart Urado; anchor for night at Tsuro† (Tosa domain);
send letter home
3/17 Delayed in Tsuro due to poor weather (rain); send letter 3/24 Home on 3/21; sightsee at local temples; visit friend 3/25 Arrive in Kan-no-ura; send letter home
3/26 Depart Kan-no-ura; anchor for night at Ōsaki (Kii) 3/27 Anchor for night at Tanigawa (Izumi)
3/28 Overnight in Sakai
3/29 Arrive in Osaka; lodge at Tosa’s compound at Nagabori
4/1 Depart from Osaka with full procession; overnight in Fushimi; free time in Fushimi on 4/2; depart on 4/3
4/4 Cross Yokota River (dry) via temporary earthen bridge 4/7 Free time in Yoshida
4/8–4/10 Delayed at Arai due to winds blowing in wrong direction
(for boat crossing to Maisaka). Dispatch subordinate via Honzakadō to check on water levels at Tenryū River, further north on the Tōkaidō‡
4/10 Cross Tenryū River; Hirosada receives report of water level rising at Ōi River (procession accelerates pace)
4/11 Most people in Tosa’s procession cross Ōi, but horses must wait until 4/12 (due to high water, people given priority)
4/13–4/15 Cross Okitsu, Fuji, and Banyū Rivers 4/16 Arrive in Edo, thirty-four days late * Mori Hirosada 1732, fols. 1–13.
† The port of Tsuro was developed by the famous domain senior advisor Nonaka
Kenzan as a place of refuge for the domain’s boats on alternate attendance because of the great difficulties of the eastern route around Cape Muroto.
‡ To avoid similar delays at Arai or Maisaka, which were quite common, travelers
sometimes used the longer Honzakadō around Lake Hamana. Vaporis 1994a, 188–190.
tou r of du t y 50
sion could have its schedule thrown into disarray by chance encounters with another.
In Osaka, the various parts of the procession assembled for the trip up the Tōkaidō to Edo, and communications were made with officials in several cities regarding its progress as well as the health of the lord. As noted above, the ad- vance party usually came from Kōchi or Kan-no-ura by boat and met with the main group at the domain’s residence in Osaka at Nagabori, where members of the retinue could rest for two or three days for the upcoming trip. Officials dispatched messengers to Edo to report the lord’s arrival there to the shogun- ate’s senior councilors as well as to Kōchi. Greetings were also dispatched to the keeper of Osaka castle, another shogunal official.
While in Osaka the lord or heir pursued numerous leisure and religious ac- tivities. He made a pilgrimage to the Inari shrine in the Tosa compound, rested, and received visitors, including merchants with whom the domain had rela- Figure 2.3. The Yamauchi lord’s boat. Courtesy of Kōchi kenritsu rekishi minzoku shiryōkan.
The Road to Edo (and Back) 51 tions of one sort or another. Occasionally he also viewed Noh theater, dance, and acrobatics at the compound, most often performed by artists from Kyoto. For example, in 1802 the young heir Toyooki visited the merchant Kōnoike Zen’eimon, with whom the domain had close commercial connections and at whose residence the boy looked over the merchant financier’s collection of Chi- nese books. He was also shown a variety of art objects and some items from overseas, including a “Dutch-style” toy. Kōnoike further entertained the heir with a performance of Noh and Kyōgen.38
From Osaka, the lord’s entourage might take riverboats up the Yodo River to Fushimi or go directly to Kyoto and connect to the Tōkaidō (125 ri (305 miles) to Edo). It was not uncommon for the lord to visit Kyoto, often on a day trip from Fushimi, for sightseeing at Kiyomizu, Chion-in, the Gion area and, while it was still standing, the Great Buddha statue. He might also pay courtesy visits to shogunal officials, such as the Kyoto deputy or the aristocratic Sanjō family, with whom the Yamauchi had familial ties, and dine at the Tosa residence at Kawaramachi.39 Messengers bringing greetings (or returning greetings) from families of the court and religious aristocracy came as well to Tosa’s residence. Apparently because of shogunal restrictions, only on rare occasions did the lord spend the night in Kyoto. For example, in 1679 Toyomasa stayed four nights on his way to Kōchi and received many messengers from court nobles and religious prelates.40 Permission from the Tokugawa’s senior councilors to stop in Kyoto was a necessity, although in at least one case, as will be detailed below, the daimyo went there without permission, in disguise.41 Even when the lord did not stop in Kyoto, visitors came to see him in Fushimi, and a stream of gifts arrived from others not able to visit. Moreover, actors occasionally came from Kyoto to perform, though this occurred more often in Osaka.42
From Osaka or Fushimi there were several possibilities for the overland trip to Edo. The most frequent choice for Tosa, as for most daimyo from western Japan, was the Tōkaidō.43 While it was the most developed in terms of travel facilities, this route had some large rivers that had to be forded and which were subject to seasonal flooding. Flooded or not, crossing large rivers like the Ōi was costly, as related in the senryū: Gold coins rain / Alternate attendance in spring / Shimada [post station].44 On the return leg to the domain, some of these costs might be avoided by taking the Nakasendō, permission for which was required from the shogunate. Using the Nakasendō — twenty-seven kilometers longer, more mountainous, and less developed than the Tōkaidō — was attractive be- cause there were no major rivers, there was less traffic, and transport costs were cheaper.
With the exception of the first day of travel, when departure from either Kōchi or Edo was around midday, the procession set out on the road generally by 6 or 7 a.m. While this might seem relatively late, preparations for departure
tou r of du t y 52
actually had to begin three hours earlier. In some domains, signals regarding the various stages of preparation were given with wooden clappers, but for Tosa a series of circulars was sent around. Based on Mori Hirosada’s account, at 3 a.m. the first notice, a wake-up call, was circulated, and after breakfast a sec- ond notice went around. An hour after the initial notice, at 4 a.m., by which time the lord had completed his bath, a third one was dispatched. Not all retain- ers had assembled even after the third call, however, so an urgent notice was sent around at 6 a.m. Shortly thereafter, a little more than three hours after the first notice circulated, the procession was ready for departure.45
Once on the Tōkaidō, a number of rivers had to be forded, and heavy rains sometimes caused river stoppages and financial hardship. In 1832, Miyaji Uma- nosuke’s party was forced to wait at the Ōi River for four days until the water level dropped to an acceptable level. On that day, Miyaji reports, the riverbank was “like a battlefield.” When river-crossing porters did not come to service them immediately, Miyaji, who was in charge of the baggage, was forced to pay a hefty tip, equal to fifty percent of the regular charge, since even lesser daimyo were doing so. Although it grated him to do so, he felt “it could damage the lord’s prestige (goikō ni mo kakari) if the baggage was late.” Protecting the lord’s reputation clearly had a price, and the river-crossing porters took advantage of it.46
Given the potential problems faced by travelers at river crossings, responsi- bility for overseeing the procession’s passage across them was one of the most important administrative assignments given to retainers on the trip.47 Mori Hi- rosada, for example, was one of several Tosa officials in charge of river crossings on the Tōkaidō heading toward Edo in 1732. Mainly this involved investigating whether the water level was low enough and the water flow slow enough to allow for a safe crossing. From his diary we know he was also in charge of the financial ledger kept for river crossings. Hirosada was of such rank of course that he sent subordinates to investigate and report back to him, as happened while the procession was held up at Arai due to poor weather. The subordinates went ahead, probably by the Honzakadō around Lake Hamana, to investigate conditions at the next river, the Tenryū, after making the crossing. The Tenryū was rising, so Hirosada consulted with a local official in charge of the river crossing, who informed him that it would be closing soon that day. The infor- mation was then relayed up the chain of command to the lord.48
Timely information gathering and rapid decision making were necessary for smooth progress through trouble spots on the Tōkaidō, particularly river crossings such as at the Tenryū. On this occasion, the procession was able to cross the river in boats before the service was closed. Hirosada’s vessel went before the lord’s and landed at the spot designated for the lord’s boat to check
The Road to Edo (and Back) 53 the conditions there. To avoid the same problem at the following crossing, Hi- rosada sent a subordinate ahead to investigate the condition of the infamous Ōi River. There he learned that water levels there were rising and that a river stoppage would begin in the early afternoon. As a result of this information, Tosa officials made the decision to push to make the crossing before it closed.49 At the crossing, people were given priority over horses; the procession therefore had to hold up at the post station on the other side of the Ōi until the horses could be crossed the following day, if conditions allowed. Taking turns with another official, Hirosada rode ahead of the procession as it progressed to check on conditions at successive rivers while traveling up the Tōkaidō.
Even though the water level had not risen sufficiently to close down the Ōi, crossing it was still dangerous due to its strong currents. On the banks of the river, Hirosada inspected the platform upon which the lord’s palanquin would sit, and he followed the lord and his bearers into the water on horseback. To ensure the lord’s safe crossing, twenty men carried his platform while another twenty men stood upstream in a row with locked arms to help break the cur- rent for the lord’s passage. Another twenty men were held in reserve, far more than usual, in case of an emergency. All told, the labor of at least sixty-one men was necessary to oversee the lord’s crossing. This brings to mind the river crossing of the Moroccan sultan’s caravan in the late nineteenth century. There, the sultan’s horse was “surrounded by negroes on foot, while a line of expert swimmers were held in readiness, linked hand in hand, stretched from bank to bank.”50 In Tokugawa Japan, a retainer like Hirosada followed behind the platform, watching for any mishaps. Once the lord’s bearers were safely back on land, he rushed ahead and inspected the area where the palanquin would be set down.
Hirosada worked hard during the trip to Edo but, as noted, when not on duty he had several options. On the trip from Osaka to Edo, Hirosada was off duty for at least parts of four days. He could rest or sleep in a palanquin or break from the procession and go forward on his own. In his diary he records the order: “You are free to go ahead [of the procession] as you see fit.”51 Of course he and his fellow retainers were required to rejoin the procession when back on duty, but this allowed for some sightseeing along the road, an activity that will be discussed again in chapter seven.
In returning to Kōchi, the procession basically retraced its steps from the previous year, though job assignments were not necessarily the same. Hirosada, for example, was not given river-crossing duty, probably much to his relief. Instead, he was assigned to walk at the side of the lord’s palanquin. On the last leg of the journey, at Akaoka, where the procession lodged for the final night before entering the castle town, four friends came to greet him. Others too no
tou r of du t y 54
doubt received friends and perhaps family with much enthusiasm. Certainly Hirosada had to feel some comfort being so close to home, and he must have looked forward to the time off — about three weeks — he was about to enjoy.52