Sumiyoshi Shrine (Sumiyoshi Taisha) is located at the southern end of Osaka on Osaka Bay and is dedicated to four Shinto deities, each housed in a building of its own. The buildings are in the simple sumiyoshi style of architecture. The shrine offered protection and prosperity for sailors, fishermen, poets and merchants. The annual festival is in July.

A red torii gate marks the entrance to the shrine precincts, seen on the first two panels on the right. A distinctive arched bridge in front of the shrine is characteristic of all depictions of Sumiyoshi. The bridge is said to have been donated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his consort Yodogimi in the Keicho era (1596-1615). Other familiar elements of the shrine landscape are the groves of huge pine trees on the beach and the seashells dotting the sandbar.

Remarkable in this painting are the lively scenes of picnicking and merrymaking in the park surrounding the shrine. A party of samurai are segregated behind a fancy curtained enclosure at the center of the composition to the left of the bridge. Various other groups have formed to drink and dance with abandon; large wooden sake containers called jubidaru are much in evidence. Porters rest beside their palanquins at the bottom of the fourth panel. There is also a variety of waterside activity--boating and shell gathering. In the distance is a view of Osaka Bay.