tying Tokyo, Kyoto, and Ōsaka together in thirty-nine hours. Initially charges were based on an increasing scale depending on distance. As for transporting, the weight of the cargo carried by one person was limited to about one kilogram, and the journey was set at about twenty kilometers in two hours, with an attendant at night to ensure safety. In July of the following year, with the exception of one part of Hokkaido, the system was implemented throughout almost the entirety of the country and in 1873 fees were made uniform. Behind the nationwide development of Enryō’s lecture tours was the creation of the national infrastructure above. The railroads were used as a baseline for his travels but once off the main lines he had to travel by light rail, horse-drawn tramway, or even mining cart. Sometimes he would just go as far as he could on an express mes-senger horse and then continue on foot or by rickshaw. For example, records show it could take as long as five days to get from Tokyo to Miyakonojō in Miyazaki prefecture, traveling by steam train, river-boat, and horse-drawn carriage. It was not unusual for him to have to leave before dawn or to be stranded on an island for two days because of ship cancellations. As an example of how dangerous places traversed by rickshaw could be, Enryō described his journey along a four-kilometer cliff road from Katsuura to Kamogawa in Chiba prefecture. The road was known by the name “Osen Falling to Her Death” (a woman named Osen was thrown off the road by the wind, dying instantly after hit-ting the water below). 162
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