“It requires some considerable training to enable a yūjo to make a d�chū as it is a most difficult thing to lift the lower portion of her clothes in such a manner as to move with graceful dignity.
“Though there are no age-ya to be found at present, the custom is still preserved, and the appearance of yūjo in the Naka-no-ch� is called the d�chū.�
In the days when there were age-ya in the Yoshiwara it was the custom for a tayū to go out to the age-ya to which she was called to meet her guest, and on these occasions she was escorted by her shinz�, yarite, kamuro, and wakaimono. With reference to this subject, the D�b� Go-en (洞房語園) says that
“In the Moto Yoshiwara (prior to its removal to the present site), yūjo used to be carried to age-ya on the backs of servants when it rained. These men-servants (called roku-shaku), by placing their hands behind their backs made a seat, by means of their palms, on which the tayū sat—or rather knelt—carefully wrapping her underwear around her feet and leaving her outside dress hanging loosely down. The tayū’s hands were not employed in holding any part of her bearer’s body, but engaged in adjusting her garments, etc. From behind, a servant covered her with a long-handled oil-paper umbrella, and in this position the tayū is said to have looked very stylish.�
Since the removal of the old brothel quarter to the present Yoshiwara, it is said that tayū sometimes went out to age-ya riding in palanquins, as this was considered to be a convenient mode of transit.
In the “D�b� Go-en I-hon K�-i� (洞房語園異本考異) it is stated that
“Up to the era of Keich� the ladies of noble families were usually borne on the backs of men-servants in rainy weather, palanquins being but every seldom used. These ladies wore a kind of veil-like hood (katsugi) on their heads, and on the backs of the bearers were fastened wooden rests on which the women could sit. The custom of prostitutes being carried on the backs of men-servants appears to have arisen through a desire to ape the higher classes.�
Courtesans being carried to age-ya—vide pages [192–193].
“Since their removal to the Shin Yoshiwara, palanquins were often used, but later on were dispensed with, and yūjo preferred to walk to their destination even in rainy weather. * * * As stated above, better-class yūjo went out in palanquins when the weather was rainy, or the roads dirty, but shin-z� used to walk, wearing sandals called “tsume-kakushi� (nail hiders): these tsume-kakushi were more particularly in use in the Mi-ura-ya of Ky�-machi.�