Gokaidō and Hime kaidō

The Five Routes (五街道 Gokaidō^?) were the five major roads (kaidō) that started at Edo (now Tokyo) during the Edo period, the most important of which was the Tōkaidō, which linked Edo and Kyoto. Tokugawa Ieyasu started the construction of these five routes in order to increase his control over the country in 1601, but it was Tokugawa Ietsuna, the 4th shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate and Ieyasu's great-grandson, who declared them as major routes. Post stations  (shukuba) were set up along the route for travelers to rest and buy supplies.

Each of the routes started at Nihonbashi in Edo. From that point, each road linked the capital with other parts of the country.

Tōkaidō

The Tōkaidō had 53 stations and ran along the Pacific coast, connecting with Kyoto. Once it reached Kusatsu-juku, it shared its route with the Nakasendō.

Nakasendō

The Nakasendō (also often called the Kisokaidō) had 69 stations and ran through the center of Honshū, connecting with Kyoto. The Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku served as the end point for the Kōshū Kaidō. Also, the Nakasendō merged with the Tōkaidō at Kusatsu-juku.^[1]

Kōshū Kaidō

The Kōshū Kaidō had 44 stations, connecting with Kai Province (Yamanashi Prefecture), before ending at the Nakasendō's Shimosuwa-shuku.^[2]

Ōshū Kaidō

The Ōshū Kaidō had 27 stations, connecting with Mutsu Province (Fukushima Prefecture). There were subroutes that connected to other places of northern Japan, too.^[3]

Nikkō Kaidō

The Nikkō Kaidō had 21 stations, connecting with Nikkō Tōshō-gū in modern-day Tochigi Prefecture.^[4]

In addition to the five routes, there were minor routes that were either branches of or alternates to the main routes, or infrequently used routes. Some of the routes were referred to as hime kaidō, as they were alternate paths for main trade routes, but none were officially called that.

Hime kaidō (姫街道 princess route^?) was the name given to minor routes that created detours around the difficult crossings (or river crossings) of main routes during the Edo period in Japan. These routes could be found on many of the Edo Five Routes, as well as on other sub-routes that crossed the country.