 Many "daimyōs" also used this road as part of their mandatory journeys ("sankin-kōtai") to Edo under the Tokugawa shogunate.Of course, the road also served the more everyday purpose of providing transport for merchants, traveling entertainers, pilgrims and other commoners.Today, Route 9, the San'in Expressway, and the San'in Main Line of the West Japan Railway Company follow the approximate route of the San'indō.