Early Department from a Daimyo's Inn, Seki, from the series the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Hoeido edition)

At every station there were inns for samurai going to and from Edo for their period of mandatory attendance there. The inns where the daimyo lords stayed were said to be their honjin (headquarters). Before the sun rose in the morning, in the dim darkness of the inn preparations are progressing for their departure. On the tall green bamboo pole in the foreground, a special pass is inscribed with the name of the daimyo lord staying there. The palanquins the daimyo will ride in can be seen in the entranceway to the left.