Objective of the game

The players are travelers in Japan. They follow the prestigious Tokaido and try to make this journey as rich an experience as possible. They will pass through magnificent countryside, taste delicious culinary specialties, purchase souvenirs, benefit from the virtues of hot springs, and have unforgettable encounters.

Playing the game

The player whose Traveler is farthest behind on the road is the player who takes the next turn.

This player must move their Traveler forward to the open space (dot) of their choice, freely passing over one or more open spaces.

Once they have moved their Traveler, the player receives the benefit corresponding to this type of space.

NOTE: Some of the spaces on the board are doubled. Double spaces are used only in games with 4 or 5 players.

Description of the spaces

(Standard Option for Base Game / Additional Option for Expansion Game)

Encounters (Pink Locations)

(B) The player draws one Encounter card and receives a bonus:

• Annaibito - Draw the indicated panorama, if completed draw a panorama of your choice.
• Kuge - Gain 3 coins.
• Miko - Add 1 point and 1 coin to the Temple (from the bank)
• Samurai - Gain 3 points.
• Shokunin - Draw a Souvenir card and score those points.

New Encounters Promo Cards

• Itamae - Pay a coin to draw a meal card; add it if you don't already own it and score 6 points.
• Kitoushi - Pay a coin to choose a Panorama and score the corresponding points.
• Saru - Draw a Hot Spring card and score those points.
• Takuhatsuso - Pay a coin and score 4 points.

(E) Pay 1 coin and select a Calligraphy card (counts for Chatterbox accomplishment) and gains end game bonuses:

• Contemplation - 3 points for each completed Panorama and 1 point per Cherry Tree.
• Fasting - Score 3 points for each uneaten meal at the Inn.
• Foresight - 2 points per coin.
• Nostalgia - 2 points for each Legendary Object and 1 point per Souvenir.
• Patience - Score 6 points if you are the last to arrive in the last Inn, otherwise score 2 points.
• Perfection - 2 points for each Accomplishment and 1 point for each Calligraphy card.

Farm (Gold Locations)

(B) The player earns 3 coins.

(E) Player gambles 2 coins; (X= Loses coins, 1/2/3/3/4= Gains double that many coins).

Hot Springs (Cyan/Light blue Locations)

(B) The player takes a Hot Spring card. These cards are worth 2 or 3 points.

(E) Pay 1 coin for a Bath House card worth 4 points (counts for Bather accomplishment).

Panorama (Green/White/Sea Blue Locations)

(B) There are three Panorama types and are made of 3 (Field), 4 (Mountain), or 5 (Sea) sections.

When a player stops on a Panorama they take the first Panorama of that type that they do not have (value from 1-5) and scores that many points. Each traveler can create only a single panorama of each type and when completed can no longer stop on the spaces corresponding to that type.

(E) A player may instead take a Cherry Tree and gain 2 points and 1 coin. (There are 6 Cherry Tree cards.)

Temple (Red Locations)

(B) The player must donate 1, 2, or 3 coins to the temple and scores 1 point for each donated coin.

(E) Pay 1 coin to take one of the available Amulet cards.

• Vitality - Take another turn when in the lead.
• Fortune - Roll the fortune die and gain 0-4 coins.
• Health - Take both options at your location.
• Friendship - Share a single space occupied by another traveler.
• Hospitality - When stopping at the Inn pay 0 coins for a card.
• Devotion - When buying something, donate the coins spent to the Temple and earn points

Village (Black Locations)

(B) The player draws 3 Souvenir cards and can purchase 1-3 of these cards for 1-3 coins. There are four different types of Souvenirs and are grouped in sets. The first type of Souvenir in each set is worth 1 point, the next different type of Souvenir is 3 points, then 5 and 7 points.

(E) Acquire a Legendary Object (counts for Collector accomplishment) for 1-3 coins:

• Shodo & Emaki - For 1 coin, gain 1 point for each Souvenir or Legendary Object. Gain 1 point for each Souvenir thereafter.
• Buppatsu & Ema - For 2 coins this counts as a different Souvenir type, 5 types in a set is worth 9 points.
• Murasame & Masamune - For 3 coins, gain 8 points.

Inns

All Travelers must stop at each Inn, they may not leave until all players have arrived at that Inn.

The Inns allow players to buy one unique Meal card for 1-3 coins that are worth 6 points.

When the first traveler arrives at an Inn, they draw as many Meal cards as there are players, plus 1.

As players arrive at the Inn they may buy a Meal card to add to their collection, hidden from other players.

• A traveler cannot taste the same culinary specialty twice during their journey.
• A traveler can never purchase more than one Meal card per Inn.
• A traveler is never obliged to purchase a Meal card.

End of the journey

When all of the Travelers have arrived in Edo at the last Inn, the game ends.

The travelers score additional points depending on their ranking as donors to the Temple:

• The most generous donor scores 10 points.
• The second scores 7 points.
• The third scores 4 points.
• All other donors score 2 points.

In the event of a tie, all tied players score points from that rank; e.g., two players tied for first place score 10 points each.

Award the following achievement cards to the appropriate travelers. Each achievement card is worth 3 points. If players are tied for an achievement, then they each receive the 3 points.

• Gourmet - the player with the highest sum of coins on their Meal cards.
• Collector - the player with the most Souvenir cards.
• Bather - the player with the most Hot Spring cards.
• Chatterbox - the player with the most Encounter cards.

Note: There are 3 other achievement cards that are awarded during game play. One for each different type of panorama and each is awarded to the player that is first to complete the specific panorama.

Note: If players are tied after the final scoring, then the player with the most achievement cards wins.

Description of the Travelers

Name (starting coins) Special powers

Base Game

• Chuubei (4) At intermediate inns, before meal, draws encounter card
• Kinko (7) At inns, buys meals at 1 coin discount
• Hiroshige (3) At intermediate inns, before meal, acquires panorama card of choice
• Hirotada (8) At temple spaces, may take 1 coin from the bank and donate it to the temple, scoring 1 point; does this in addition to normal temple action
• Mitsukuni (6) Earns 1 additional point per hot spring and achievement card
• Sasayakko (5) At village spaces, when purchasing at least two souvenirs, the cheapest is free; must have enough coins to pay for both at full price
• Satsuki (2) At inns, selects one meal card at random from the set of meal cards; may take it for free or purchase another at full price
• Umegae (5) At encounter spaces, gains 1 coin and 1 point before drawing encounter card
• Yoshiyasu (9) At encounter spaces, draws two encounter cards and keeps one; places other on bottom of deck
• Zen-emon (6) At village spaces, may purchase one souvenir for 1 coin instead of full price

Crossroads

• Daigoro (3) At intermediate inns, before meal, draws souvenir card
• Gotozaemon (0) At panorama spaces, gains 1 additional coin
• Jirocho (5) At intermediate inns, before meal, may gamble 1 coin; player throws the fortune die and follows normal rules for gambling
• Kita (4) At encounter spaces, may take both actions (draw encounter card and buy calligraphy card)
• Miyataka (4) At temple spaces, may take both actions (donate coins and buy amulet)
• Nampo (2) At inns, earns 1 point per coin value of meal eaten

Game Options

Initiation

A simplified version with no Travelers and everyone starting with 7 coins.

Return Trip

Instead of starting on the left side of the board, players move right to left.

Gastronomy

The first person arriving at an Inn draws one less card, only drawing one card per player.

Preparations

When leaving the starting Inn, the last player gains two coins, the next gains one coin, the fourth and fifth players each lose a coin.

Crossroads

This expansion adds a second option at each location (other than the Inns) to choose from when stopping.

New Encounters

This adds 4 new encounters to the possibilities when on the 'Encounters' space.