There were several ways to get to the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter from Edo, and one was to go by boat from the Sumida River to the Yamaya Canal and then use an embankment called the Nihonzutsumi.
From the Nihonzutsumi, the sloping “Emon-zaka” and the winding “Gojikken-michi,” bent in a dog-leg, led down to the Great Gate (Omon) of Yoshiwara. The Mikaeri Yanagi stands on the left at the start of this road. It is said to be named because men leaving the quarter looked back at about where the willow stood, reluctant to part.