Osukiya-bozu is a tea master who works at the Honmaru in Edo Castle. Although generally not well paid, he is a direct descendant of a feudal lord, and because of this profession, he is able to obtain confidential information, therefore even the feudal lords look up to him. Kochiyama Soshun (Shintaro Katsu) together with Ushimatsu (Shohei Hino), a pickpocket, and Naojiro Kataoka (Hide), a former gokenin are small-time crooks who are devoted to extorting and ripping off others. However, in order to help the weak and oppressed on the fringes of society, they beat up powerful lords, hatamoto (feudal lords), and wealthy merchants. With the help of Ochiyo (Kaori Momoi), the daughter of a lumber merchant in Fukagawa, Otaki (Mitsuko Kusabue), the proprietress of a ryokan (Japanese-style restaurant) with whom Soshun is on very good terms, and Ichinojo Kaneko (Yoshio Harada), a ronin, the group hunts down the evil.