For this reason, they could also be called shirayumoji (白湯文字, an ordinary woman who secretly engages in sex work), or tabi-jo-rо̄ (旅女郎, a prostitute who travels alone on foot to meet various clients).
There have been claims that Mochizuki Chiyome trained such miko during the Sengoku period to be used for gathering information for the Takeda clan of Kai Province.
They were beautiful women ranging in age from seventeen and eighteen to their thirties and made appearances in various regions from Kanto to Kinki, and were said to have gone around calling, "Would you like to speak to a shrine maiden?
During her pilgrimage, the head of each miko village, called Kakae-nushi or Boppoku, would recruit beautiful girls between the ages of 8 and 16 from across the country (from Kanto to Kishu, primarily from Mino and Hida) either for an agreed number of years or as adopted daughters.
[6] This was of course because they spent their money generously as they engaged material pleasures, though they always repaid their debts where they traveled and abstained from eating meat, as they were religious figures.