The play "Honchô Nijûshikô" was originally written for the puppet theater (Bunraku) and staged for the first time in the 1st lunar month of 1766 in Ôsaka at the Takemotoza. It was adapted for Kabuki a few months later and was produced by both Nakamura Utaemon I and Mimasu Daigorô I in Ôsaka at the Naka no Shibai [casting].

"Suwa Myôjin" is the common nickname for the first scene of the 2nd act of "Honchô Nijûshikô". The regular title is "Suwa Myôjin Hyakudo Ishi" ("the 100 Times Stone in the Suwa Myôjin Shrine" in English). This scene is occasionally revived within a tôshi kyôgen production of "Honchô Nijûshikô".

Minosaku, a carter, takes a rest on a stone (hyakudo ishi) in the compound of the Suwa Myôjin Shrine when several other carters surround him, saying that the stone is sacred and that anyone who sits on it has to raise it or offer some money to the shrine. Itagaki Hyôbu, a leading retainer of Takeda Shingen, arrives with his retainers and makes the carters stop bullying Minosaku. Hyôbu takes Minosaku to the inn where he is staying.

Nureginu, a maid in the service of the Takeda household, pays homage at the shrine to pray for the safety of Shingen's son Katsuyori, with whom she is in love. She is worried because the Shôgun's assassin is still at large though three years have passed since Katsuyori's father promised to kill him if the assassin is not apprehended. As Nureginu rings the bell at the sanctuary by shaking the ribbon attached to it, the ribbon comes off. She shudders, considering it a bad omen. A man named Yokozô approaches her and, reading the inscription on the ribbon, tells her that it represents a prayer for the health of a 17 -year-old youth. When she says that her lover is 17 years old, Yokozô assures her that the broken ribbon signifies a good luck instead of a bad one. Thanking him for the information, Nureginu hurries away with the ribbon. Yokozô then steals money from the offertory box and a sword from the sanctuary. When Ochiai Tôma, a retainer of Nagao Kenshin, comes to accuse Yokozô of his crime, Yokozô cuts off his head. Kagekatsu, Kenshin's son, arrives with his retainers but connives at Yokozô's crime.

Source: Hironaga Shûzaburô

"Suwa Myôjin" of "Honchô Nijûshikô" in the 5th lunar month of 1799 at the Ichimuraza, with Nakamura Denkurô IV (Minosaku), Ichikawa Yaozô III (Yokozô), Arashi Sanpachi I (Itagaki Hyôbu) or Onoe Matsusuke I (the nyûdô Saitô Dôsan)