The “Amigasa-jaya.” (Braided hat tea-houses.)
Reading edition
AMIGASA.
It is mentioned in the “Yoshiwara Taizen” (吉原大全) that there were tea-houses, standing on each side of the Go-jikken-michi outside the great gate, which were known as “Amigasa-jaya” because they lent to samurai, nobles, and people who wished to conceal their identity, “amigasa” which covered the entire head, face and all.21 These hats were usually made of rush, and being very deep looked something like inverted baskets. The twenty tea-houses are still to be seen in Go-jikken-machi, but the rush hats formerly supplied are conspicuous by their absence. In passing, it may be noted that it was a custom for these houses to lie built without second-stories facing the street.
“The “Yoshiwara Kagami” 吉原鑑 says:—In ancient times there were amigasa-jaya outside the great gate and visitors used to enter the Yoshiwara wearing the deep rush hats supplied by those houses. Each hat cost 100 mon (10 sen), but if the purchaser returned it on the way home the keeper of the amigasa-jaya, would exchange it for 54 mon (about 6-1⁄2 sen).
“These hats are no longer used, but the old name still clings to the tea-houses.”