Tōkaidō

城市概覽

Kaidō (街道) were roads which were created during the Edo period (1603-1868). These roads served multiple purposes, including trade, diplomacy and pilgrimage. There were five major Kaido called the Edo Five Routes, which were administered routes from Edo to the outer provinces. The Tokaido Road (東海道, literally "East Sea Route") was the most important route as it followed the east coast of Japan's main island, Honshu. The journey stopped at over 50 locations along the coast. While the road may have been traveled by foot or by cart, many of these ancient and historical routes have been incorporated in modern day Japan. The route's importance further increased after steel bridges made crossing of big rivers easy. The Tokaido Main Line follows the road closely, as does most of the Tokaido Shinkansen, and is what makes this long, almost two-week journey, into a mere 2.5 hour trip. The Golden Route follows the route of the Tokaido Shinkansen, and visits several populous cities across the East Coast, seeing many castles, temples and natural wonders, including multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This itinerary varies, but usually involves travelers arriving at one of Tokyo's airports, then sightseeing Tokyo, before travelling on the Shinkansen to stop at Hakone & Mt Fuji, then stopping at Kyoto for a few days, before traveling to Nara, and flying out of Osaka. Some extended itineraries continue traveling east to include the cities of Himeji and Hiroshima.

如何抵達

East End (Tokyo)

The first station from the East end is Nihonbashi Bridge, in the heart of Tokyo. Your best starting point would be to go to Tokyo Station (Tokyo-eki) in Chiyoda ward, and then leaving the station via the Nihonbashi Exit. Walk north until you get to Eitai-dori Ave (永代通り), then turn right. Follow the road until you get to Nihonbashi metro station intersection, or Chuo-dori Ave (中央通り). Turn left onto Chuo-dori Ave until you reach the bridge.

West End (Kyoto)

The first station from the West end is Sanjo Bridge (三条大橋, Sanjō Ōhashi). You can get there by arriving at Sanjo Keihan Station on Kyoto Subway Tozai Line, and exiting via exits 6 or 7. Walk west onto the bridge.

購物

Shukuba Seal Stamps (宿場印 shukuba-shirushi) were sold from October 7, 2020 at the first 12 stations from Nihonbashi to Mishima-juku. The rest of Shizuoka Prefecture's shukuba seal stamps went on sale from January 21, 2025. Aichi and Mie Prefecture's shukuba will have stamps from April 1, and Shiga and Kyoto's will go on sale from April 10, 2025, so that pilgrims can purchase a seal stamp at each station they visit for ¥300 each. They also sell a book to place your seal stamps for ¥3000.

順遊推薦

Some Golden Route tours go beyond Osaka, travelling to Kobe, Himeji, Okayama and Hiroshima. Since the growth of the Shinkansen network, other Prefectures have created similar routes for travelers. For example, The New Golden Route is a route between Tokyo and Osaka, but visits cities in the north across the Sea of Japan. While you still arrive in Tokyo, you then travel on the Hokuriku Shinkansen as you sightsee Takasaki, Nagano, Kurobe, and Kanazawa, before traveling to Omi-Takashima, Kyoto and Osaka via local trains. In 2019, Fukushima, Tochigi and Ibaraki Prefectures started a promotion campaign "Diamond Route Japan", inviting foreign tourists to the three often-ignored prefectures. If you just can't get enough of old Japanese roads, the Nakasendo parallels the Tokaido but travels inland, with many well-preserved stretches.