The dance "Ryôkan to Komori" was premiered in June 1929 in Tôkyô at the Imperial Theater. The role of Ryôkan was played by Morita Kan'ya XIII [more details].

On the outskirts of a rural village in the province of Echigo, near the statue of a jizô, little children of the village are at play beside the roadside under the blossoming cherry trees (sakura). One of the little girls, a komori, has a child on her back, and she sings to it to keep it quiet. Ryôkan, the priest of a small local temple, comes to the site in a good mood, having been treated to food and sake somewhere in the vicinity. As he is a great favorite of the children, they greet him happily. They notice that he doesn't have with him the iron pot that he always carries with him. Ryôkan seems to have forgotten it somewhere in his good mood and regrets its loss, at which the children feel sorry for him.

The children invite him to play ball with them (maritsuki). He drops the ball (mari) and is made to tell a story. When he drops the ball the second time, he is asked to perform a dance. Finally, he is blindfolded for a game of tag, but the children run away, leaving him alone. Not knowing that he has been abandoned, Ryôkan continues to feel around for a child, but catches the farmer Jinroku on his way home from the fields instead. The farmer happens to have with him the iron pot that Ryôkan treasures. He explains how he found it, and Ryôkan is so happy to retrieve it that he falls on his knees before the farmer in gratitude.

The actors Morita Kan'ya XIII and Onoe Kikue playing the roles of Ryôkan and the komori in the dance-drama "Ryôkan to Komori", which was staged in June 1931 at the Tôkyô Gekijô