Kawatake Shinshichi III's drama "Shiobara Tasuke Ichidaiki" was premiered in January 1892 at the Kabukiza [casting].

The current version of "Shiobara Tasuke" is made up of 4 acts.

Introduction

Shiobara Kakuemon, a rônin facing difficult circumstances, receives help from a farmer who shares the same first name. The farmer gives the rônin fifty ryô and adopts Tasuke, the rônin's eight-year-old son, as his own child.

Fifteen years have passed since that time. After enduring many trials, the Kakuemon finally returns to Edo in a favorable position. Meanwhile, things do not go well for Tasuke, the son adopted by the farmer Kakuemon. Following the farmer's death, Tasuke becomes an unwelcome presence within the family.

Act I

Tasuke's foster father has died, and although Tasuke is the rightful heir, he becomes the unwanted member of the family. His stepmother, Okame, married the foster father as his second wife, bringing with her Oei, a daughter from a previous marriage. Oei then becomes betrothed to Tasuke, so the young couple are set to inherit the household. However, Okame is a scheming woman who wants to take control herself, planning to install her secret lover, Hara Tanji, as the new head of the family. To achieve this, Okame needs to eliminate Tasuke. She pushes her daughter Oei into an illicit love affair with Tanji's son, Hara Tanzaburô, further destabilizing Tasuke's position.

To make Tasuke appear guilty, they fabricate a love letter supposedly sent to him by a relative's daughter. Okame uses this letter as an excuse to harshly reprimand Tasuke. But then a relative named Tazaemon arrives at the house, revealing a letter he found addressed to Tanzaburô from Oei and proving her infidelity. Faced with this evidence, the conspirators are forced to retreat. Still determined, they send Tasuke away on an errand, plotting to ambush and kill him on his return.

Act II

Tasuke walks home one evening, leading his horse from work, but for some unknown reason, the faithful horse suddenly balks and refuses to move forward. This horse has been Tasuke's constant companion and friend ever since the day he was adopted by farmer Kakuemon.

Tasuke cannot understand why the horse, usually so obedient and loyal, should now refuse to proceed. He wonders if, like the rest of the family after his foster father's death, even the horse has come to regard him with disdain.

As darkness falls, an old friend named Enjirô passes by and accidentally bumps into the stubborn horse. Seeing the horse's refusal to move with Tasuke leading, Enjirô takes over while Tasuke falls behind. Strangely, the horse moves forward swiftly when guided by Enjirô, forcing Tasuke to struggle to keep up.

Suddenly, a spear shoots out from the shadows and strikes Enjirô, who collapses. Tasuke, following close behind, runs into the stopped horse and finds Enjirô fatally wounded. Enjirô tells Tasuke that he holds no enemies and is certain the attack was meant for him. Tasuke's stepmother, Okame, is scheming to marry a worthless samurai named Hara Tanji, while Okame's daughter Oei-Tasuke's wife and from an earlier marriage-is involved in an illicit affair with Tanji's son, Tanzaburô. Both couples want Tasuke out of the way.

Convinced they are behind the attempt on his life, Enjirô, dying, hands Tasuke his savings and urges him to flee immediately. Tasuke ties his horse to a tree near a kôshinzuka and prepares to leave as Enjirô advised. The faithful horse, which has saved Tasuke's life by refusing to move into the ambush, whinnies sorrowfully, clutching at Tasuke's sleeve as if begging not to be separated. At last, Tasuke tears himself away from the grieving horse, determined to head for Edo and make a success of himself.

Unstaged scenes between Act II & Act III

After Tasuke leaves, the horse is brought back to the house, where it goes into a furious rampage, biting to death Tasuke's unfaithful wife Oei and her illicit lover. In their attempt to get rid of the bodies, the elder couple, Okame and Tanji, try to burn down the shed where the bodies lie. However, the fire quickly spreads, consuming not just the shed but the entire house.

Tanji is later killed, and Okame, left with the illegitimate child she had with Tanji, falls into poverty and becomes a beggar. Much later, Okame and her son Mantarô unexpectedly encounter Tasuke in Edo, as revealed in act III.

Act III

After arriving in Edo, Tasuke apprentices at a charcoal merchant's shop. Having worked diligently and with integrity, he eventually becomes the owner of his own charcoal business. Even as proprietor, he personally makes his rounds to customers, earning respect for his hard work and honesty.

During these rounds, he grows close to Kyûhachi, a humble purchaser of empty barrels. The two meet daily for brief chats at a small tea stand in Honjo. One day, as they talk, Kyûhachi is summoned to a nearby mansion, expecting to conduct business and collect empty barrels.

Meanwhile, Tasuke witnesses some beggars (kojiki) harassing a blind woman and a child, newcomers to the neighborhood. He intervenes and saves them, recognizing the blind woman as his scheming stepmother, Okame, who once tried to kill him. Showing no bitterness, Tasuke offers her money and tells her where his shop is, inviting her to come to him if she ever needs help. From her, he learns for the first time that his faithful horse bit Oei and Tanzaburô, causing their deaths, that the house burned down, and that Tanji was killed.

After the beggars move on, Kyûhachi returns with surprising news: he was summoned to the mansion not to discuss empty barrels, but to propose a match for Tasuke. The daughter of the household, Ohana, has watched Tasuke daily from behind the fence and fallen in love with him. Kyûhachi has been asked to gauge Tasuke's interest. Tasuke, however, flatly refuses, saying the daughter of such a noble family is no suitable bride for a humble charcoal merchant like himself. He adds that he would only consider a bride from a modest background, like Kyûhachi's daughter. Then he walks away briskly, leaving Kyûhachi stunned that anyone would turn down such a promising match.

Act IV

Tasuke is, as usual, briskly at work in his prosperous charcoal shop when Kyûhachi arrives for an unusual visit. He is accompanied by the landlord Kinbê, who, in those days, represents authority and attends all important matters concerning the people on his property. Kyûhachi recalls Tasuke's remark that he would consider marrying the hardworking daughter of a humble man like himself, so he has formally adopted a daughter and brought her to become Tasuke's bride. Tasuke sees nothing wrong with the arrangement and agrees.

However, when introduced to the girl's real father, Tasuke learns he is Fujinoya Mokuemon, the master of the grand house near the Yotsume tea stand in Honjo-the very household he once patronized. The girl must be Ohana, whom Tasuke had previously refused. Upon realizing this, Tasuke immediately refuses stubbornly, insisting that a girl raised in such a large house could never handle the varied duties of a merchant's wife.

Kyûhachi, alarmed that his well-laid plans may fail, quickly explains that the adoption was mostly formal and that Ohana has been living in his home, where she has been trained in all the household chores expected of Tasuke's wife. Yet Tasuke notices the girl wears long-sleeved wedding finery and is displeased. He says no one who dresses with such vanity can be expected to work, and such a bride would be useless to him.

At this, Ohana cuts off the sleeves and presents the trimmed pieces to Tasuke. Even stubborn Tasuke is moved by her gesture and finally consents to the marriage. Just as they prepare for a simple ceremony, a clerk arrives with urgent news: thirteen vessels carrying a huge load of charcoal have arrived at the river port and must be unloaded immediately to clear the clogged river traffic.

Without hesitation, Tasuke, his bride, and all others pitch in to unload the cargo themselves. Soon, the entire group is seen busily working on the river dock, unloading bales of charcoal and stacking them neatly. The curtain falls on this joyful scene of hard work and prosperity.

The actors Onoe Matsusuke IV (top/1st from left), Onoe Kikugorô V (top/2nd from left), Bandô Kakitsu I (top/2nd from right), Nakamura Kantarô II (top/1st from right) and Onoe Eizaburô V (bottom/left) playing the roles of the taruya Kyûhachi, Shiobara Tasuke, Fujinoya Mokuemon, the yanushi Kinbê and Ohana in the drama "Shiobara Tasuke Ichidaiki", which was staged in January 1892 at the Kabukiza (print made by Utagawa Kunisada III)