“(5.) Proper enquiries shall be instituted into the person of any visitor to a brothel, no matter whether he be gentleman or commoner, and in case any suspicious individual appears information shall be given to the Bugy�-sho (office of the city Governor).

“The above instructions are to be strictly observed.

“(Date ___________) The Bugy�.�

On the low land of Fukiya-ch�, which was thus granted by the authorities, now stand Idzumi-ch�, Takasago-cho, Sumiyoshi-ch�, and Naniwa-ch�, and the ko-hori (or small ditch) at Hettsui-gashi which was once the outer moat of the prostitute quarters. The present Ō-mon-d�ri (Great Gate Street) was formerly the street leading to the Ō-mon (Great Gate). At the time about which I am writing the place was one vast swamp overrun with weeds and rushes, so Sh�ji Jinyemon set about clearing the Fukiya-machi, reclaiming and filling in the ground, and building an enclosure thereon. Owing to the number of rushes which had grown thereabout the place was re-named Yoshiwara (葭原 = Rush-moor) but this was afterwards changed to Yoshi-wara (�原 = Moor of Good luck) in order to give the locality an auspicious name.

The work of filling in and levelling the ground, and the construction of houses, was commenced in the 3rd year of Genna (1617) and by November of the following year “business� commenced. The work of laying out the streets and completing the quarters was not however finished until the 9th day of the 10th month of the 3rd year of Kwan-ei (28th November 1626).

The following were the names of the wards of the Yoshiwara:—

Yedo-ch�, It-ch�-me: This was the pioneer prostitute quarter established in the city after the Tokugawa government had made Yedo the seat of their administration; and in the hope and expectation of sharing in the prosperity of the city itself the felicitous name of Yedo-ch� (Yedo ward) was chosen as appropriate for the new ward. All the houses at Yanagi-ch� removed to this Yedo-ch�, and among them was the “Nishida-ya� (House of the Western Ricefield) which was kept by Sh�ji Jinyemon himself.

Yedo-ch�, Ni-ch�-me: To this ward (Second ward of Yedo-ch�) were transferred all the houses formerly kept at Moto-Kamakura-gashi.

Ky�machi, It-ch�-me: To this ward were transferred the houses at K�jimachi. The majority of these establishments having had their origin in Roku-j�, Ky�to, the ward was named Ky�-machi, thus using the first character 京 (Ky�) of Ky�to and preserving the old association with the capital.

Ky�machi, Ni-ch�-me: The brothelkeepers of Hisagomachi in Ōsaka, Kitsuji in Nara, and other localities, having heard of the opening of the Yoshiwara, many of them immigrated to this place. The buildings in this ward were completed two years later than those in the other streets, and accordingly this ward was commonly called Shim-machi (新町 New Street).