This preparatory drawing depicts a mature woman, engaging in intercourse with a Buddhist priest in front of a grave stone in a cemetery. Likely originally paying respect to the deceased, as seen through the lit incense and prayer beads dropped on the ground, the figures are now entwined together with the woman balancing herself on her family's tomb.

The scene relates to the Obon festival, celebrated on the 13th day of the seventh month. During this syncretic folk-Buddhist holiday, families lit small fires to guide the returning spirits of ancestors home. Moreover, families would visit ancestral graves to clean them, offer fresh flowers and leave food offerings. Here, the tombs are decorated with offerings such as bamboo vases holding flowering branches. The tombstone the woman leans against also has a leaf placed in front of it, which would have been used as a plate for small symbolic food offerings.

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.