Volume 34 of the episodic book series Shiranui Monogatari, comprising of two bound books illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada along with their original fukuro (wrapper). The covers show a connected scene with characters from the story posing as if ready to fight, on the left, the man unsheathing his sword and on the right, the woman grabbing a flower from a vase.

The first page of each volume bears a censor’s seal, dating the work to the third month of the Year of the Rooster (1861). The opening four pages feature vertical, double-page illustrations printed in black and Prussian blue. The first page of the second volume also employs this two-colour printing, depicting a cat playing with the shadow of a butterfly, while the remaining illustrations are printed exclusively in black.

The fukuro in which these books were wrapped took the form of a fish tank containing a goldfish with a human face, possibly the face of a kabuki actor, accompanied by text.

The story of Shiranui Monogatari, was an epic illustrated gôkan comic book published over 90 volumes, between 1849 and 1855 and tells the story of the young Princess Wakana whose family (The Ôtomo clan) are wiped out in a feud with another clan. She is rescued by a kindly spider and given the gift of spider magic. The plot tells of her vendetta to take revenge upon the Kikuchi family, who was the cause of her downfall.