In 1656, the Hirado Domain opened stations, with staff and horses placed, at various important spots along the highway to make it more convenient for its lord to travel between the domain territory and Edo on a regular basis. In 1654, two years before that, the domain had built gun batteries along the port of Nagasaki by order of the Tokugawa shogunate and had taken charge of guarding Nagasaki by cracking down on the entry of foreign ships.
The Shimokata Highway, the Karatsu Highway, and the Hasami Road were secondary routes connected to the Hirado Highway. The Shimokata Highway, which ran north to south through Hirado Island, was also a pilgrimage route to Mt. Shijiki and Mt. Yasuman, both of which were revered as sacred mountains by local people. The Karatsu Highway, which ran between Haiki and Mikawachi in present-day Nagasaki Prefecture, and the Hasami Road centered in Hasami, which connected Kawatana in Nagasaki with Arita, Imari, and Takeo in Saga, were the starting points of the “ceramic road,” through which Mikawachi Ware and Hasami Ware ceramics were transported to be exported abroad.