The job function was to assist the Shogun during his travels to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and to Nikko Shrine, to resolve the difficulty the Shogun in sokutai (ceremonial court dress) experiences when wishing to relieve himself, by slipping a copper, cylindrical container (urinal) into the dress from the side of the hakama.
将軍の上洛・参内、日光社参の際、将軍が束帯すがたで排尿をおこないにくいとき、袴の脇から現在のポータブルトイレ、尿瓶（しびん）にあたる銅製の筒（尿筒、しとづつ）をさしこみ、排尿中ささえるのが仕事である。