The Highway is called Godaisan (meaning visiting in place of another)-kaido Highway because in the mid-Edo period there was a tradition among the courtiers in Kyoto to send a representative to Ise-jingu Shrine and to Taga-taisha Shrine three times a year (New Year, May and September), and the highway was used in those occasions.
江戸中期頃には京の公卿たちの間で年に3回（正月・五月・九月）伊勢神宮と多賀社へ代参の名代を派遣する習慣がありその際に利用されたことから御代参街道と呼ばれている。