The Chushingura story was based on a true incident that occurred in December of 1702.  The stories of Akohroshi, royal retainers of the feudal domain in Akoh, having lost their lord in what was considered an unfair punishment of ritual suicide, samurai retainers were left in dishonor, having all of their possessions and domain be confiscated.

As a result of this defeat, the samurai disguised themselves as harmless citizens and secretly plotted to get revenge by killing their enemy, Kirakozukenosuke. The magnificent play is a grand drama of the human spirit, consisting of eleven sub-plots. It takes an entire day to perform the complete play on stage. Since it was first put on a
stage twenty-five years after the actual incident, the play has been on the stage every year for two hundred fifty years. The play never fails to attract an audience, and has continued to retain nationwide popularity. It is said that the theater is always filled when Chushingra is performed.

However, under feudalism in the samurai era, a story of bloodshed could not be put on the stage unless the characters’ real names were withheld.  As a result, the story was converted into a version that happened in Takauji Ashikaga's Shogunate in the
Muromachi era (1392~1573). All of the characters' names were changed under the new title "Kanatehon Chushingura". "Kamakura Tsurugaoka Kabutoaratame no Ba" is the opening scene of the play.

In the beginning of the play Kanatehon Chushingura, Takauji Ashikaga has killed Yoshisada Nitta, the enemy leader and has offered Yoshisada's armor as homage at
Hachimangu shrine. Among forty-seven armor helmets on the battlefield, only Yoshisada's armor had to be collected, as the Emperor Godaigo had given it to him
in honor. Kaoyogozen, formerly a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Palace was in
attendance when the Emperor gave the armor to Yoshisada, She examined all of the armor and picked out Yoshisada's. "This has to be the armor of the Lord Yoshisada", Kaoyogozen declares. She could tell Yoshisada's armor from others because the armor had been imbued with "Ranjatai", the far-famed precious Koh.