Arriving at an Inn

The Inns, mandatory stopovers for all travelers, are places to enjoy a well-earned meal and sample local culinary specialties.

Each traveler is obliged to stop at each of the 4 Inns on the way to Edo, so naturally the Inn spaces can hold all of the travelers at the same time.

These Inn spaces are on the board in red. The order that players arrive at an Inn is important.

The first traveler occupies the space nearest the road, and later travelers form a line after them.

The green traveler will be the first one to leave the Inn.

When the first traveler arrives at an Inn, they draw as many Meal cards as there are players, plus 1. (For example, in a game with 3 players, they draw 4 cards.)

They look at these cards without showing them to other players.

They may then purchase one Meal card of their choice by paying the price (1, 2, or 3 coins) marked on the card.

They add this card, face up, to their collection and place the remaining cards next to the board, face down.

Each Meal card is worth 6 points, which are immediately scored.

They then must wait for the other travelers to arrive at the Inn. Upon arrival, each traveler may purchase one of the remaining Meal cards, if they can afford to.

The first traveler to arrive at the Inn therefore has a greater range of choices than the last!

Important :

• A traveler cannot taste the same culinary specialty twice during their journey.

• A traveler can never purchase more than one Meal card per Inn.

• A traveler is never required to purchase a Meal card.

Example:

In a game with four players, the first traveler arrives at the Inn; they draw 5 Meal cards (4 players + 1) and choose their Meal from among these 5 cards.

The second traveler arrives at the Inn; they choose their Meal from among the 4 remaining cards.

The third traveler arrives at the Inn; they would like to choose a Meal from among the 3 remaining cards, but they don’t have enough money to pay! Alas, they cannot take a Meal card and go hungry at this stop.

The fourth traveler arrives at the Inn with 3 Meal cards from which to choose as the previous traveler did not purchase a Meal. They purchase one, then place the remaining cards at the bottom of the pile.