The play "Kanadehon Chûshingura" was originally written for the puppet theater (Bunraku) and staged for the first time in the 8th lunar month of 1748 in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. It was adapted for Kabuki the same year and staged for the first time in the 12th lunar month of 1748 in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai [casting].

The first scene of the fourth act of "Kanadehon Chûshingura" was staged 6 times between 1948 and 2016, with 5 productions between 1948 and 1950!

The "Yodanme" act, the fourth act of "Kanadehon Chûshingura", is made up of 3 scenes commonly called "Hana Kenjô" (literally 'Flower Offering'), "Hangan Seppuku" (literally 'Hangan's Ritual Suicide') and "Shiro Akewatashi" (literally 'Vacating the Castle'). Scene 2 and 3 are always performed for a tôshi kyôgen production of this drama and are never staged independently. Scene 1 is still in the repertoire but it is rarely-staged nowadays. It is a very short scene: it lasted 9 minutes when it was staged in October 2016 at the National Theatre.

Previous scene: "Uramon"

Act IV, scene 1: Hana Kenjô
Flower Offering

While En'ya Hangan remains confined to his mansion (kamiyashiki) in Ôgi-ga-Yatsu, his wife Kaoyo Gozen and her ladies-in-waiting (koshimoto) gather an impressive basket of double cherry blossoms (yaezakura) to offer comfort to him. Ôboshi Rikiya, the son of the chief retainer Ôboshi Yuranosuke, diligently stands by, awaiting Yuranosuke's expected arrival from their hometown. As news of official emissaries dispatched by the Shogunate reaches them, they swiftly prepare to receive them.

Next scene: "Hangan Seppuku"

The "Hanakago Kenjô" scene of the drama "Kanadehon Chûshingura" in a print made by Utagawa Hiroshige I