Gwaishutsu oyobi t�b�.
(Exit and flight from the Yoshiwara.)
The Yoshiwara Ō-kagami (�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 Hy�-j�-sho (Supreme Court) to wait on officials.
In the case of a “j�ro� being summoned before the “machibugy�� 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 “bugy�� that they might spread a mat for the “j�ro� to sit on, and the “j�ro� 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 Muk�jima, 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 Hy�-j�-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 (r�-shu no bess�) 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 r�-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 (�-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.