Description

E-Sugoroku or Picture Sugoroku is Japan's version of the roll-and-move race game. This entry in the BoardGames database serves for the myriad versions and themes used in E-Sugoroku, which include religion, travel, theater and more.
The earliest mentions of E-Sugoroku are of Pure Land Sugoroku, where the objective of the game is to reach the Pure Land, the Buddhist Western paradise. In the 17th Century, E-Sugoroku became popular with beautiful art on boards depicting the journey from Kyoto to Edo, or scenes of famous Kabuki actors. A second wave of popularity occurred in the 19th Century, after the Meiji Restoration, at which time it also became more of a children's game. Today, E-Sugoroku sets feature contemporary themes and can be found in toy-stores and 100-yen shops.
A feature of E-Sugoroku is that dice rolls do not always translate into the same number of steps. Instead, progress from one step to the next could be made only by rolling specific numbers, or different numbers could indicate different paths to be taken.
E-Sugoroku should be distinguished from Ban-Sugoroku (BoardGames entry at Sugoroku), a game with an earlier origin and which is more akin to Backgammon. The generic term Sugoroku literally means 'double six' and is applied to board games that use dice.

Reference: Masukawa Koichi, Scenic Views: E-Sugoroku. In: Asian Games: The Art of Contest. Asia Society, 2004.