Tokaido ancient cedars

During the Edo period, Japan was crossed by several roads (kaido) connecting the most important parts of the country. Most significant were the Edo Five Routes, connecting Edo with several large cities and amongst them, the most important was Tōkaidō, connecting Edo with Kyoto.

The construction of the Edo Five Routes was ordered by the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601, its successors continuing the work and adding post stations, places where travelers were able to rest and buy supplies. In order to further help the travelers, because the journey on Tōkaidō was usually done by foot, cedar trees were planted in some areas. I took this photo near Hakone, where over 400 cedar trees survived until today, together with a small part of the old Tōkaidō road... still traveled by foot...