“The empire of Japan,” says Kämpfer, “is divided into seven great tracts,[164] every one of which is bounded by a highway, and, as these tracts are subdivided into provinces, so there are particular ways leading to and from every one of these provinces, all ending in the great highways, as small rivers lose themselves in great ones. These highways are so broad that two companies, though never so great, can, without hindrance, pass by one another. That company which, according to their way of speaking, goes up, that is, to Miyako, takes the left side of the way, and that which comes from Miyako the right. All the highways are divided into measured miles, which are all marked, and begin from the great bridge at Yedo as the common centre. This bridge is by way of preëminence, called _Nihombashi_, that is, the bridge of Japan. By this means, a traveller, in whatever part of the empire he be, may know at any time how many Japanese miles it is from thence to Yedo. The miles are marked by two small hills thrown up, one on each side of the way, opposite each other, and planted at the top with one or more trees. At the end of every tract, province, or smaller district, a wooden or stone pillar is set up in the highway, with characters upon it, showing what provinces or lands they are which here bound upon each other, and to whom they belong. Like pillars are erected at the entry of the sideways which turn off from the great highway, showing what province or dominion they lead to, and the distance in leagues to the next remarkable place. The natives, as they improve every inch of ground, plant firs and cypress-trees in rows along the roads over the ridges of hills, mountains, and other barren places. No firs or cypress can be cut down without leave of the magistrate of the place, and they must always plant young ones instead of those they cut down.