One reason why the Tokugawa clan chose the Edo Castle as its primary residence was that the geographical location of Edo was ideally aligned with shijin-soo philosopy that sought geographic analogs of the four Daoist gods Genbu (God of Water), Suzaku (Red Phoenix), Seiryu (Blue Dragon) and Byakko (White Tiger) respectively manifest in the geographic forms of hills in the north, a basin to the south, a river in the east, and a broad avenue to the west; Such geographic analogs of geomantic ideals were manifest in the Kojimachi plateau to the north, the Hibiya Inlet to the south, the Kanda-gawa River in the east, and the Tokai-do road to the west; the geographic analogs of geomantic ideals were respectively reconfigured to the Hongo highlands (Bunkyo Ward), Edo bay, O-kawa River (Sumida-gawa River), and the Koshu-kaido Road in response to the growth of Edo.
そもそも江戸城が徳川氏の城に選ばれた理由の一因には、江戸の地が当初は北の玄武は麹町台地、東の青龍は神田川(東京都)、南の朱雀は日比谷入江、西の白虎は東海道、江戸の拡大後は、玄武に本郷(文京区)台地、青龍に大川（隅田川）、朱雀に江戸湾、白虎に甲州街道と四神相応に則っている点とされる。