A surimono print depicting the poet, Yamabe no Akahito (fl. 724-36) watching cranes at Wakanoura Bay from the series, ‘Cranes, turtles, pine and bamboo’ (Tsurukame matsutake no uchi) by Totoya Hokkei.

Surimono (translated as "printed thing") were customarily commissioned by private patrons or exclusive poetry clubs, often serving as opulent New Year's gifts or tokens commemorating significant occasions. Typically, these prints were limited in production, with runs spanning a range of 50 to 200 impressions. This genre of woodblock printing typically used costly materials and timely techniques such as bokashi (gradation) printing, blind printing (embossing), as well as the incorporation of metal pigments and mica powder.

Yamabe no Akahito was a Nara period (710-794 CE) court poet regarded as one of the '36 Immortal Poets' and as one of the Kami of poetry. Hokkei's composition references one of Akahito's poems, "Off the Beach at Waka" in which the poet remarks on the rising tide and flying cranes at Wakanoura Bay.