On pilgrimages such as the Okage Mairi (to Ise-jingu Shrine) and Fuji Mode (to Sengen Shrine at the summit of Mount Fuji), the road traveled was also considered to be part of the pilgrimage, as such inn towns contained prostitutes (serving ladies) whose entertaining of the guests was a form of purification and exorcism.
お蔭参り（御伊勢参り）や富士詣などは途中の旅路も過程も含めて「詣で」であり、宿場町に遊女（飯盛女）が存在し、客が遊興することは、禊や祓いであった。