The Nagasaki Kaido: Japan's Sugar Road

Overview

In our second episode on Japan's pre-modern highway system, we follow the Nagasaki Kaido. During the Edo period (1603–1868) when the Shogunate prohibited external trade, they allowed one exception – the port of Nagasaki Prefecture. Ideas, technology, culture and goods flowed from this port along the Nagasaki Kaido to the rest of Japan. Named the "Sugar Road" after one of the most important trade goods, the old highway and those who traveled it had a lasting influence on the communities along its route.