Gwaishutsu oyobi tōbō. (Exit and flight from the Yoshiwara.)

The Yoshiwara Ō-kagami (吉原大鑑) says that the going abroad of prostitutes was prohibited at the founding of the Yoshiwara, and only tayū were occasionally allowed to attend the Hyō-jō-sho (Supreme Court) to wait on officials.

In the case of a “jōro” being summoned before the “machibugyō” she was accompanied by two wakaimono, the master of the brothel, five wardsmen (“go-nin-gumi”) a representative of the “nanushi” and her “yarite.” The latter made a small present to the attendants of the “bugyō” that they might spread a mat for the “jōro” to sit on, and the “jōro” remained silent while the “yarite” answered the questions of the judge.

Once in every Spring, all the inmates of the brothels used to go out to either Ueno, Asukayama, or Mukōjima, to see the cherry-blossoms, and on these occasions they spent the day in drinking saké under the cherry-trees, and amusing themselves by dancing and other pastimes. The custom of the tayū appearing at the Hyō-jō-sho ceased about the era of Kwan-ei (1624–1643), and that of cherry-blossom viewing also dropped out of fashion after the Bunsei era (1818–1829). Even after this latter date, sick prostitutes requiring the treatment of a physician outside the Yoshiwara, or those who wished to go to their master’s villa (rō-shu no bessō) for the benefit of their health, were allowed to pass through the gate. If the parents of prostitutes who lived at Asakusa, and in its neighbourhood, were dangerously ill, they were allowed to visit them by the special permission of the rō-shu (brothel-keeper), but even in these cases the women were passed out under pretext of sickness, and a passport was given to them by the nanushi, as follows:—

Courtesan ____(name)____ employed by ____(name)____, who is under my management, being sick, is sent out of the great gateway (ō-mon) to visit Doctor ____(name)____ accompanied by her master. She is to be allowed to pass the gate without fail.

(Signed)__________

(Nanushi)

To Shirobei Esq.,

Great Gateway.

A woman thus allowed out of the Yoshiwara would perhaps have looked out of her kago (palanquin) as she was borne along through the streets, and wondered at the novelty of her surroundings. Then she might have become impatient, owing to her anxiety after her parent’s health, and urged the kago-ya (bearers) to hurry forward. Arriving at her parents’ house she would perhaps have found her father, seriously ill, lying in squalid wretchedness, and have been met by her poor old mother who, taking her daughter’s hand in her own, might have been overcome with deep emotion and wept bitterly. Then came long consultations about the future, and the day of grace began to draw to a close, for it was a rule that courtesans out on leave had to return to the Yoshiwara before 5.30 p.m. By and by the sad and solemn tones of the temple bell at Asakusa would give her warning that her time had expired, and urged on by the yarite (an old brothel hag), whom she had perforce brought with her, she rose and bade farewell to her weeping parents, and re-entering her kago was carried back to her life of gilded misery well-nigh blinded by an agony of helpless tears.

Although the rules relating to the passage of the ō-mon (great gateway) were as above, there were some prostitutes who attempted to run away from the Yoshiwara, owing to an irresistible desire to see their lovers, or being heavily in debt. When such an event happened, the brothel-keeper concerned sent out men on all sides to trace the absconding woman, or applied to the police office (mem-ban-sho) for her capture, and as detectives were immediately set to work to ascertain her whereabouts, nearly all runaway women were caught and ignominiously brought back to their masters. When an absconder was brought back, she was censured for her ill-considered step by the master, yarite, and bantō, and all the expenses incurred in connection with her detection and capture were added to her debt: this had the effect of prolonging the term of her servitude in the brothel. Sometimes private punishment was meted out to her by the master if he thought she deserved it. When an elopement was attempted twice or thrice in succession, the woman in question was generally re-sold to one of the prostitute quarters outside the Yoshiwara through the agency of a zegen (procurer): this practice was called “Kuragae” (change of saddles). It is said to have been the custom that when the keeper of a brothel outside the Yoshiwara was in treaty for the purchase of a “kuragae” prostitute, he sent his bantō to the house to which she belonged as an ordinary guest. The bantō spent the night with her, and the mi-no-shiro-kin (price-of-the-body) was settled according to his report.