The was a
travel route during the
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
in
Ōmi Province
was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan, which today comprises Shiga Prefecture. It was one of the provinces that made up the Tōsandō Circuit (subnational entity), circuit. Its nickname is . Under the ''Engishiki'' classification system, ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It received its name because it was used about 12 times by representatives of the
Joseon (朝鮮) Dynasty in modern-day
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
during the
Joseon missions to Japan
Joseon missions to Japan represent a crucial aspect of the international relations of mutual Joseon-Japanese contacts and communication. In sum, these serial diplomatic ventures illustrate the persistence of Joseon's '' kyorin'' (neighborly rela ...
. It was also called the Hikone Road (彦根道 ''Hikone-michi''), the Kyō Road (京道 ''Kyō-michi'') and the Hachiman Road (八幡道 ''Hachiman-michi'').
It was originally built by
Oda Nobunaga
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...
to join
Azuchi Castle
was one of the primary Castles in Japan, castles of Oda Nobunaga located in the Azuchi, Shiga, Azuchi neighborhood of the city of Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture. The site of the castle was designated a Monuments of Japan, National Historic Site i ...
to
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
. After the
Battle of Sekigahara
The Battle of Sekigahara (Shinjitai: ; Kyūjitai: , Hepburn romanization: ''Sekigahara no Tatakai'') was an important battle in Japan which occurred on October 21, 1600 (Keichō 5, 15th day of the 9th month) in what is now Gifu Prefecture, ...
,
Tokugawa Ieyasu
Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...
used it for going to Kyoto, so it was considered an auspicious road. It served as a sub-route of the
Nakasendō
The , also called the ,Richard Lane, ''Images from the Floating World'' (1978) Chartwell, Secaucus ; pg. 285 was one of the centrally administered Edo Five Routes, five routes of the Edo period, and one of the two that connected the ''de facto'' ...
, connecting
Toriimoto-juku with Yasu village (between
Musa-juku
file:Nakasendo marker 2.jpg, A marker giving the distance to Musa-juku
was the sixty-sixth of the 69 Stations of the Nakasendō, sixty-nine stations of the Nakasendō highway connecting Edo with Kyoto in Edo period Japan. It was located in the ...
and
Moriyama-juku). At , the route only skipped over three other
post stations
Graham Media Group (formerly Post-Newsweek Stations) is the television broadcasting subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. It is now headquartered in Detroit, co-locating with its local NBC affiliate WDIV-TV, after spending 10 years in Chicago. ...
. Staying closer to
Lake Biwa
is the largest freshwater lake in Japan. It is located entirely within Shiga Prefecture (west-central Honshu), northeast of the former capital city of Kyoto. Lake Biwa is an ancient lake, over 4 million years old. It is estimated to be the 13 ...
, the route went through the present day municipalities of
Hikone
is a city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 111,958 in 49,066 households and a population density of 570 persons per km². The total area of the city is .
Geography
Hikone is located in central Shig ...
,
Azuchi,
Ōmihachiman
file:Omihachiman City Hall.jpg, 260px, City Hall
file:Hachimanbori07s3200.jpg, 260px, Traditional buildings Preservation Area
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 82,233 in 3474 ...
and
Yasu in
Shiga Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,398,972 as of 1 February 2025 and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to th ...
.
Joseon representatives had luncheon at Omihachiman and stayed at Hikone. They left traces of their stay, such as handwritten documents and portraits, at the temples in Omihachiman and Hikone.
References
*
Old Roads, Nakasendo and Chosenjin Kaido- OMIHACHIMAN TOURISM ASSOCIATION
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chosenjin Kaido
Road transport in Japan
16th-century establishments in Japan
Japan–Korea relations