Of the Reason Why Going to the Yoshiwara was Called “Chō ye yuku.”

In the “Yoshiwara Ō-kagami,” (吉原大鑑 “Great Mirror of the Yoshiwara”) it is mentioned that the origin of the common expression in former days of “Chō ye yuku” (going to Chō)—meaning “going to the Yoshiwara”—was as follows: Formerly the streets of the Yoshiwara were laid out in the shape of a cross, but afterwards one of the entrances was closed, changing the cross into a shape like that of the Chinese character “Chō” (丁), hence the saying. In later times this expression was changed, and nowadays people speak of going to the Yoshiwara as “naka ye yuku” (to go inside).