This preparatory drawing depicts a couple openly engaging in public sex on a picnic platform set in the shallow waters of the Kamo River in Kyoto. In the distance, a second platform can be seen, where a dancer performs to the music of a shamisen player. Two spectators sit and watch the performance, while a third figure approaches their platform.

During the Edo period, the banks, dry riverbed and shallows of the Kamo River around the area of Shijo-Kawara in Kyoto served as a popular summer amusement spot. Temporary bench platforms were erected on the river’s dry stretches and in its shallow waters, providing spaces where people gathered to eat, drink, and enjoy live performances, seeking relief from the heat of summer nights.

The drawing is annotated with instructions indicating the colours intended for the final painting, produced either for a painting album or hand scroll, offering insight into the artist’s design process and planned palette.