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The walled district served as a model not only for the Shimabara in Kyoto, [[Shinmachi]] in Osaka, and [[Maruyama]] district in Nagasaki, but also for pleasure districts in domainal cities such as [[Kanazawa]], [[Shimonoseki]], and [[Fukuoka]].<ref>Stanley, 52.</ref>

The walled district served as a model not only for the Shimabara in Kyoto, [[Shinmachi]] in Osaka, and [[Maruyama]] district in Nagasaki, but also for pleasure districts in domainal cities such as [[Kanazawa]], [[Shimonoseki]], and [[Fukuoka]].<ref>Stanley, 52.</ref>

Despite its marginal status, the Yoshiwara managed to exercise some degree of political autonomy, and pressure on the shogunate, at times. In [[1665]], managers of the Yoshiwara managed to persuade the shogunate to forcibly shut down much of the Yoshiwara's competition, outside of the district. This also marked the end of the phenomenon of ''[[yuna]]'', or bathhouse girls. Meanwhile, up until the 1740s, the Yoshiwara served a role for the shogunate as a site of criminal punishment for women - under certain circumstances, after committing certain crimes, a woman could be given over by the authorities into a life of servitude in the Yoshiwara. This changed after the issuance of the ''[[kujikata osadamegaki]]'' of standardized penalties in [[1742]].<ref>Stanley, 50.</ref>

Despite its marginal status, the Yoshiwara managed to exercise some degree of political autonomy, and pressure on the shogunate, at times. In [[1665]], managers of the Yoshiwara managed to persuade the shogunate to forcibly shut down much of the Yoshiwara's competition, outside of the district. The authorities shut down two hundred bathhouses and arrested 600 of the girls who worked there, marking the effective end of the phenomenon of ''[[yuna]]'', or bathhouse girls, many of whom relocated to the Yoshiwara and took up work there, often as ''[[sancha]]'' (teahouse waitresses).<ref>Stanley, 61.</ref> Meanwhile, up until the 1740s, the Yoshiwara served a role for the shogunate as a site of criminal punishment for women - under certain circumstances, after committing certain crimes, a woman could be given over by the authorities into a life of servitude in the Yoshiwara. This became more systematized after the issuance of the ''[[kujikata osadamegaki]]'' of standardized penalties in [[1742]]; unlicensed prostitutes were now to be sentenced to three years service in the Yoshiwara.<ref>Stanley, 50, 61.</ref>

The Yoshiwara was the only licensed district in Edo. The authorities attempted to control prostitution and other such unsavory activities by giving them somewhere legal to be, and limiting them to that space. In the 1840s, there were around 7000 prostitutes operating in the Yoshiwara; historian Amy Stanley estimates a total of 10-15,000 operating within the greater Edo area, including roughly one thousand ''[[meshimori onna]]'' (serving girls) at post-station inns, and whatever number of prostitutes operating in unlicensed districts.<ref>Stanley, 2.</ref> From time to time, the shogunate would crack down on illegal prostitution operating elsewhere in the city. Sometimes, as in [[1842]] when over 4,000 prostitutes were arrested, they were simply relocated to the Yoshiwara; other times, of course, the penalties were harsher. On one occasion, in [[1639]], eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations were crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter.

The Yoshiwara was the only licensed district in Edo. The authorities attempted to control prostitution and other such unsavory activities by giving them somewhere legal to be, and limiting them to that space. In the 1840s, there were around 7000 prostitutes operating in the Yoshiwara; historian Amy Stanley estimates a total of 10-15,000 operating within the greater Edo area, including roughly one thousand ''[[meshimori onna]]'' (serving girls) at post-station inns, and whatever number of prostitutes operating in unlicensed districts.<ref>Stanley, 2.</ref> From time to time, the shogunate would crack down on illegal prostitution operating elsewhere in the city. Sometimes, as in [[1842]] when over 4,000 prostitutes were arrested, they were simply relocated to the Yoshiwara; other times, of course, the penalties were harsher. On one occasion, in [[1639]], eleven managers of bathhouses and other Yoshiwara operations were crucified outside the Great Gate of the district for illegal activities committed outside the quarter.