1st Move: Visiting Famous Places

Around the end of the 17th century, sugoroku with illustrations featuring travel to a variety of places became popular. The development of a transportation infrastructure and improvements in law and order during the Edo period brought about a renewed interest in travel. Naturally, for many people, travel—especially to remote areas—was still difficult and considered a luxury.
Thus, sugoroku depicting travel and famous places gained popularity among people who were interested in travel but could not easily go on a trip themselves. In this section, we will take a look at some of the best known sugoroku games from the Edo period.

Dochu (Traveling)

Sangu kamikyo dochu ichiran sugoroku (Traveling to Kyoto via Ise Grand Shrine)

The Tokaido was the highway linking Tokyo and Kyoto, and there were many sugoroku games that featured the scenic points along this route. The popularity of these games attests to how the people of Edo had a fascination with the faraway imperial capital of Kyoto and vicinity.
Almost all Tokaido sugoroku games have their starting line at Nihonbashi in Edo and head west to a finish line (上り agari) in Kyoto, but there was great variety in other features.
The game Sangu kamikyo dochu ichiran sugoroku (traveling to Kyoto via Ise Grand Shrine) has a stopover on the way to Kyoto at Ise Grand Shrine, which is in the present-day city of Ise in Mie Prefecture. The starting line is Nihonbashi in the lower right corner and the finish line is Kyoto in the upper right corner. Mount Fuji can be seen in the middle. This board has a very dynamic composition, even though it differs from the actual geography.
Unlike ordinary sugoroku in those days, this board did not have rows and columns of squares but rather was drawn from a bird's-eye perspective, which gave it a distinctive aesthetic character for which it was highly regarded.

Ukiyodochu hizakurige kokkei sugoroku (A funny thing happened on the way to Kyoto)

Traveling along the Tokaido was a popular subject for many sugoroku games, and JIPPENSHA Ikku’s Tokaidochu hizakurige (a walk along the Tokaido)—a comic novel published in 1802 about the misadventures of two characters traveling from Edo to Kyoto along the Tokaido—became the popular inspiration for any number of games in this genre.
One such game is called Ukiyodochu hizakurige kokkei sugoroku (a funny thing happened on the way to Kyoto). It was specifically designed to depict the plot of the novel, and each square depicts a specific scene. The start line is not Nihonbashi but Kanda Hacchobori, where one of the main characters lives.

Zen Aku dochu sugoroku (virtue and vice throughout one’s life)

This sugoroku game is a little different from the others. It does not depict real locations but rather places that represent different stages in the journey of life. You have to visit Teetotaler Temple, climb Persistence Peak and descend Slippery Slope, then passing the Sea of Joy and Senior Slope to reach the goal. If you think the storyline is somehow moralistic, you’re right.
One of the original forms of e sugoroku featured the teachings of the Buddha. It was not just a pastime but was considered a part of moral education. This edifying aspect of sugoroku games survived right through the Meiji era.

Meisho (Scenic Places)

Edo meisho shiki yusan sugoroku (the four seasons in Edo)

Sugoroku featuring scenic places in Edo were also very popular. Edo meisho shiki yusan sugoroku features the well-known scenes from each of the four seasons in Edo, such as the moon over the Sumida River, the geese flying over the Komatsu River, and cherry blossoms in Ueno. The starting line shows Mt. Fuji as seen from Nihonbashi on New Year’s Day and the finish line is at the Asakusa market crowded with people at the end of the year.
This particular game includes penalties that are designed to keep the players in suspense. For example, some squares have instructions that tell the player to lose a turn or jump to a distant square, and to win the game, a player has to roll the exact number to reach the finish line, otherwise he or she must stay where they are.

Kamakura enoshima oyama shinhan orai sugoroku (A journey through Kamakura, Enoshima and Oyama)

This sugoroku features Kamakura and Enoshima, which even then were popular tourist destinations, not far from Edo. The well-known ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai illustrated the Great Buddha of Kamakura, Shichirigahama beach, Mt. Oyama, and other sites. Sugoroku games like this one also served as traveler’s guides. For example, this game shows the distance between the sites featured in adjacent squares.

Daisen sekai kunidukushi sugoroku (around the world with sugoroku)

The subject matter of sugoroku games was not limited to Japan. Japanese have always been fascinated by foreign lands, so it is no wonder that some sugoroku games featured places from around the world, about which ordinary people in those times could only imagine. This sugoroku game appears to be from the early Meiji period. Tokyo and Yokohama are the only places in Japan, all other scenes are from faraway places with exotic names like Afghanistan, Cairo, France, and Italy.

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2nd Move: People