The actor Bandô Mitsugorô III performed in the 3rd lunar month of 1821 at the Ichimuraza a 7-role hengemono, which was entitled "Shichimai Tsuzuki Hana no Sugatae". One of these seven roles was a bonze look-alike beggar, telling humorous stories for alms. This comical dance was revived by the star Onoe Kikugorô VI in June 1929 at the Kabukiza. He used a different musical accompaniment, written by Kiyomoto Enjudayû V.

The comic dance "Ukare Bôzu" is about a beggar priest. Apparently such priests were a common sight in Edo, collecting alms ostensibly to offer prayers for the donor, or pouring water over themselves as an oblation in place of another, who paid them to do it, but in time the priests became merely story-tellers. We are told that the contributions this miscreant priest has collected are going toward building a temple of sex and sake. He mimes his various shady escapades, switching from character to character in a series of comic routines.

Courtesy of Jean Wilson (1999)

Bandô Mitsugorô III playing the role of a depraved priest in the dance "Shichimai Tsuzuki Hana no Sugatae", which was staged in the 3rd lunar month of 1811 at the Ichimuraza (prints made by Utagawa Toyokuni I)