Two samurai, Fuwa Banzaemon and Nagoya Sanzaburo, are rivals for the love of the popular courtesan Katsuragi. The play shows a ëscabbard-bumpingí (saya-ate) confrontation between the two men in the pleasure quarters.

In the 20th century the play was revived by Ichikawa Sansho in 1933, and by the Zenshin-za troupe in 1959. The currently performed dance-drama Saya-ate, which features the same two characters, is in fact a single scene taken from Tsuruya Nanboku IVís 1823 play Ukiyozuka Hiyoko no Inazuma. It is not counted as one of the Kabuki Eighteen.