The first part tells the story of Fusasaki no Otodo (FUJIWARA no Fusasaki) who, on hearing that his mother he had lost during childhood had come from Shidotsu, Sanuki Province, visits there to perform religious rites for the repose of her departed soul; there, he meets a female diver from the area who tells him that she is his mother and how she had retrieved 'Menko huhai no tama' (an oval treasure that shows the frontal figure from any angle) which was stolen by the Palace of the Dragon King; this is followed by the aikyogen (comic interlude) where an inhabitant of Shidotsu recounts the story that was told in the first part; and in the latter part Fusasaki's mother appears as Ryunyo (a form that a woman must turn into in order to rest in peace) and thanks Fusasaki for the memorial service featuring the Myohorenge-kyo Sutra (the Lotus Sutra) he is performing in honor of her.
房前大臣（藤原房前）が、幼少のころに亡くした母は讃岐国志度津の人と聞かされ、菩提を弔うためその地をたずねると、その浦の海女が登場、自分が房前の母であり、龍宮に奪われた「面向不背の珠」をとりかえした経緯を物語る前段、その土地の住人が前段のストーリーを改めて語る間狂言部分、房前が妙法蓮華経で母の追善供養をしていると、龍女に姿をかえた母があらわれ供養を謝す後段からなる。