Soga Juro (or sometimes his younger brother Goro) adopts the disguise of a traveling peddler of tochinko, a famous cure-all from the town of Odawara popularly known as uiro. The highlight of the play is his rapid and fluent pitch for the medicine, explaining its roots in China and its magical efficacy. In fact, the play is a little more than a chance for the actor to display his elocutionary skills.

The Medicine Peddler was revived in 1922 by Ichikawa Sansho, and again in 1985 by Danjuro XII who still continues to perform it occasionally.