 Knowing that he may be linked to the vendetta, Gihei has been preparing by dismissing his staff so that they would not be aware of what he was doing.He has even sent his wife, Osono, to her father's so that she would be out of the way.The act usually opens with some of the boatmen discussing the loading of the chests and the weather and, as they go off, Gihei's father-in-law, Ryōchiku, comes, demanding a letter of divorce so that he can marry Osono off to another man.