Nagai Aruki

Nagai Aruki, or Long Walk, is a Hida city near the Twilight Mountains, used as the family's center of trade. The "city" is built among one of the rare areas of fertile land. To protect the rice paddies, bridges connect the numerous shops and trading houses over a total area of over three square miles. It is an uncharacteristically inconvenient city for a clan that typically favors practical architecture. The Hida would not have it any other way.

While most would find better hospitality in the Yasuki or Kaiu provinces, Nagai Aruki is home to some of the most talented Hida artisans (most being trained by Kaiu masters themselves). When a visitor wishes to trade with the Hida, he must navigate the maze of bridges and waterways to find what he wishes. The craftsmen usually force him to place a special order and wait for several weeks while they complete previous orders for the Hida. The process is a testament to Hida arrogance, firmly reminding outsiders that all business must be on Crab terms. The Hida claim to not understand why visitors find Nagai Aruki so inconvenient.

A Crab wishing goods from the city do not suffer the frustrations. A particular ashigaru family has been rewarded a hereditary position as stewards over the city. Any visiting Crab are greeted by the head of the family, and invited to stay in their home, which is extraordinarily comfortable for a peasant's house. The family will then perform as their personal retainers, running errands and conducting business on their behalf. Also, the head of the family travels to the Hida castles every three months to determine what supplies they will need.

(SoCrab p. 16-17)