The puppet theater drama "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku" was premiered in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza in the 10th lunar month of 1766. It was quickly adapted to Kabuki the following year and was premiered in the 2nd lunar month of 1767 in Edo at the Ichimuraza [casting]. It was quite popular during the Edo period, especially the "Kinai Sumika" scene but, most likely due to the cruelty of some scenes ^[1], it is nowadays a rarely-staged drama. Only one revival for "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku", without the "Shichijô Kawara" or "Kinai Sumika" scene, in July 1966 in Tôkyô at the Tôyoko Hall. We do hope that it will be revived at the National Theatre in the future to come!

The original drama was in 10 acts (12 scenes). Only 5 acts (6 scenes) have survived. "Shichijô Kawara" was the sole scene of the 6th act of "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku".

The scene is set on the dry bed (kawara) of the Kamo River near Kyôto Seventh Avenue (Shichijô), a place where it is possible to get cheap entertainment from prostitution to dance performances (manzaishi or sarumawashi). When prostitutes (sôka) Ohyaku and Okimi are touting, a day laborer buries a letterbox in the sand and goes away. Orie, an elegant-looking woman pretending to be a prostitute, appears and, taking a kind customer into a night watchman's hut, asks for and receives money from him without prostituting herself. She is in fact the wife of Yazama Jûtarô, a former retainer of a feudal lord who was executed for his attack on his arrogant superior with a drawn sword in the Shogunate palace. She is hard up because not only her husband is unemployed, being intent on avenging his former master's death, but also her father-in-law Yazama Kinai is ill in bed and her son Taichirô is suffering from the smallpox (hôsô).

A beggar comes to dig out the letterbox. Then, he buries in its place a package containing money and he goes away. Ukihashi, a courtesan from Gion, then arrives and asks the prostitutes to help her hide because she is being chased by employees of the tea house from which she has run away. The prostitutes comply with her request and the search team from the kuruwa goes away without finding her.

Ukihashi, who is in fact Jûtarô's younger sister Omutsu, meets Orie and recognizes her as her sister-in-law. After Omutsu and the prostitutes have gone away, Orie tries to dig out the package when the beggar, who in fact is Jûtarô in disguise, comes back to claim it. They recognize each other as man and wife.

An illustration from an ezukushi banzuke depicting the "Shichijô Kawara" act of the drama "Taiheiki Chûshin Kôshaku", which was staged in the 8th lunar month of 1795 in Ôsaka at the Kado no Shibai with Arashi Sangorô II, Sawamura Kunitarô I, Fujikawa Tomokichi I and Nakamura Utaemon III in the roles of Yazama Jûtarô, Orie, Ukibashi and a manzaishi