HAKONE TOUR | VISIT THE OLD TOKAIDO CEDAR AVENUE AND CHECKPOINT
When Japan closed off it’s borders to the rest of the world in 1603 under Shogunate Tokuagawa’s rule, there was a domestic travel boom which soon would evolve into what we know today as tourism. Because travelling internationally became illegal in Japan from 1603-1868, people had more time to enjoy the beauty that surrounded them. To travel around Japan, five major roads were constructed in the early 17th century to facilitate travel throughout Japan. Of these five, the major one and most commonly used road was the Tokaido road which ran 514 km from Kyoto to Edo (Edo is original for Tokyo).
Japan had a small port in Nagasaki that allowed trade with the Dutch East India Company and Chinese traders which were strictly monitored. Any foreigners coming into the country had to stay on a little island called Dejima Island right off the port of Nagasaki and would have to get very special permission to be allowed to travel into the mainland. Of these foreigners who got special permission was Engelbert Kaempfer - a German physician and naturalist attached to the Dutch East India Company who got special permission to visit the Shogun at the imperial palace on their annual tribute to the shogun.
Kaempfer and his group, with the aid of the Japanese, used the Tokaido Road to travel into Edo. A long the way he wrote everything he experienced and saw on the Tokaido road. Much of his recordings on the Tokaido road became the core for his book The History of Japan - one of the only books at the time about Japan written by a westerner. He noted that the roads were lined with giant trees that provided shade for travelers and a nice natural scenery for people to enjoy on their travels. Kaempfer also noticed that the roads were clean all the time and witnessed that any trash would be picked up by neighboring villages. Horse droppings could be used as fertilizer for farms and debris could be burned.
This same road can be walked on today - just as Engelbert Kaempfer did in the 1690s. Right off the shore on Lake Ashinoko, a portion of the road can be found just 5 minutes from the Hakonemachi-ko bus/boat station. If you are coming from the Pirate boat sightseeing cruise its a quick 5 minute walk where you can also walk through the Tokaido Road Checkpoint. The checkpoint is where they checked travelers for permits and also served as a place to rest. The current checkpoint was rebuilt completely in 2007 but supposedly looks exactly like it did 400 years ago.
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Hakone Guide: Visit the Old Tokaido Cedar Avenue