Twenty-seven years have passed since the end of the Toyotomi rule and the fall of the castle of Osaka. The memory of war has receded. The ringleader of the Aizu rebellion, Takechiyo, has fled to the town of Koyasan, about a hundred miles west of here. He is accompanied by his son, sometsuke, who has been entrusted with the post of daimyo, or lord of the feudal lords. He asks his father to pardon him for his treasonous act against his lord. Before they leave, he tells his father that he still worries about the fate of his sister, tenjuin, who is connected to the Tokeiji temple. He says that he does not want her to be sad any more. He tells his son that he will not see her sad anymore. He also tells him that he has brought the Anion dancers from the palace to the temple. They have been brought there to humiliate them and to say their good byes. They are brought there because they were spared by their former masters. They were thrown in the convent to be rid for being a girl.