The was originally an old Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese geographical region that made up the gokishichidō

Gokishichido

was the name for ancient administrative units organized in Japan during the Asuka Period , as part of a legal and governmental system borrowed from the Chinese...

 system and was situated along the southeastern edge of Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

, its name literally meaning 'Eastern Sea Way'.

The term also refers to a series of roads that connected the capitals (国府 kokufu) of each of the provinces that made up the region. The fifteen ancient provinces of the region include the following:

• Iga Province
  Iga Province
  was an old province of Japan in the area that is today western Mie Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Iga bordered on Ise, Ōmi, Yamato, and Yamashiro Provinces.-Geography:...
  
  
• Ise Province
  Ise Province
  or was a province of Japan including most of modern Mie Prefecture. Ise bordered Iga, Kii, Mino, Ōmi, Owari, Shima, and Yamato Provinces.The ancient provincial capital was at Suzuka...
  
  
• Shima Province
  Shima Province
  or was a province of Japan which consisted of a peninsula in the southeastern part of modern Mie Prefecture. Part of the Tōkaidō, Shima bordered Ise Province, and was the smallest of the provinces....
  
  
• Owari Province
  Owari Province
  was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of present day Aichi Prefecture, including much of modern Nagoya. Its abbreviation is Bishū .-History:The province was created in 646....
  
  
• Mikawa Province
  Mikawa Province
  is an old province in the area that today forms the eastern half of Aichi Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Mikawa bordered on Owari, Mino, Shinano, and Tōtōmi Provinces....
  
  
• Tōtōmi Province
  Totomi Province
  was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today western Shizuoka Prefecture. Tōtōmi bordered on Mikawa, Suruga and Shinano Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .-History:...
  
  
• Suruga Province
  Suruga Province
  was an old province in the area that is today the central part of Shizuoka prefecture. It was sometimes called . Suruga bordered on Izu, Kai, Sagami, Shinano, and Tōtōmi provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Suruga Bay.-History:...
  
  
• Kai Province
  Kai Province
  , also known as , is an old province in Japan in the area of Yamanashi Prefecture. It lies in central Honshū, west of Tokyo, in a landlocked mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with Shizuoka Prefecture....
  
  
• Izu Province
  Izu Province
  was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was .The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising the Izu Peninsula is today the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture and the Izu Islands are now part of...
  
  
• Sagami Province
  Sagami Province
  was an old province in the area that is today the central and western Kanagawa prefecture. It was sometimes called . Sagami bordered on Izu, Musashi, Suruga provinces; and had access to the Pacific Ocean through Sagami Bay...
  
  
• Musashi Province
  Musashi Province
  was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called . The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama...
  
  
• Awa Province
  Awa Province (Chiba)
  was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. It lies on the tip of the Boso Peninsula , whose name takes its first kanji from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was or...
  
  
• Kazusa Province
  Kazusa Province
  was a province of Japan in the area of modern Chiba Prefecture. It lies on in the middle of the Bōsō Peninsula , whose name takes its first kanji from the name of Awa Province and its second from Kazusa and Shimōsa Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was or .Kazusa is classified as one of the...
  
  
• Shimōsa Province
• Hitachi Province
  Hitachi Province
  was an old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Iwashiro, Iwaki, Shimousa, and Shimotsuke Provinces....
  
  

In the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, the was demonstrably the most important in Japan; and this marked prominence continued after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

. In the early Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

, this region's eastern route was the one chosen for stringing the telegraph lines which connected the old capital city of Kyoto with the new "eastern capital" at Tokyo.

In the modern, post-Pacific War

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

period, all measures show the Tōkaidō region increasing in its dominance as the primary center of population and employment.