Editing Edo Five Routes (section)

== History ==
The various roads that make up the Five Routes existed in some form before becoming an official set of routes. [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]] began work on the routes shortly after becoming ''[[shōgun]]'' in 1600. The official creation of the Five Routes began with the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] taking government control of the post stations along the existing routes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title = Post Station and Assisting Villages. Corvέe Labor and Peasant Contention|last = Vaporis|first = Constantine|date = 1986|journal = Monumenta Nipponica| volume=41 | issue=4 | pages=377–414 |doi = 10.2307/2384861|jstor = 2384861}}</ref>  Before this intervention, the post stations provided places for travelers to rest and ran a courier system. After the official takeover, the shogunate required that these stations give preferential treatment to those on official business or be forced to cease activity. In the 1640s, ''shōgun'' [[Tokugawa Iemitsu]] closed down all but the necessary stations, which would be the last major change during the [[Edo period]].<ref name=":0" />

Along with the Post Stations, the government created a system of Check Stations along the Five Routes. Unlike the Post Stations, which provided for travelers, the Check Stations served a regulatory purpose, controlling the movement of people and goods. Some of the uses of these stations were preventing the trafficking of [[firearms]], ensuring that the various rules and policies surrounding the ''[[sankin-kōtai]]'' were followed, and checking the passports of travelling commoners. Fifty-three Check Stations were created in the 17th century.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|chapter = Linking the Realm: The Gokaidô Highway Network in Early Modern Japan (1603–1868)|last = Vaporis|first = Constantine|date = 2012|title = Highways, Byways, and Road Systems in the Pre-Modern World|pages = 90–105|doi = 10.1002/9781118244326.ch4|isbn = 9781118244326}}</ref> (This is not to be confused with the [[53 Stations of the Tōkaidō]], which refers to the Post Stations on the [[53 Stations of the Tōkaidō|Tōkaidō]].)

The shogunate also coordinated general improvements to the roads of the Five Routes. The roads were flattened and widened, with steeper sections paved with rough stone. Trees were planted alongside the road, and drainage ditches  dug in many places. Markers were put up to indicate distance at each [[Li (unit)|ri]], which was defined at the time as 3.93&nbsp;km (2.44&nbsp;mi) from the starting point at [[Nihonbashi]]. While the Five Routes crossed many waterways, few bridges were built. Instead, [[ferry boat]]s were instituted.<ref name=":1" />