17. Tokaido

 In this episode, we travel to 17th century Japan for some competitive vacationing in the board game Tokaido!

Tokaido is a 2012 game designed by Antoine Bauza with art by Xavier Durin and published by Funforge. Players take on the roles of travelers in 17th century Japan making their way along the Tokaido, which means “eastern sea road.” The Tokaido was an important route during the Edo period in Japan, connecting the cities of Kyoto and Edo, which is modern-day Tokyo. In the game, you travel that route, stopping along the way to do relaxing or interesting things, like painting landscapes, visiting hot springs, shopping for souvenirs, and enjoying good meals. Each of these spaces earns points in different ways. Whoever scores the most points is thus the traveler who has the most relaxing and interesting vacation.

Featured on this episode is our international travel correspondent, age 7. Listen here or search for “First Player Token” on your favorite podcast app–and subscribe!

Buy Tokaido on Amazon. (This is the 10th anniversary edition.)

Here’s that “Japanese Garden” playlist from Spotify.

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Music: “Open Road,”  https://www.purple-planet.com/. “Wuxia Tea House,” https://tabletopaudio.com/.