This print alludes to a poem composed by an eighth century nobleman and poet, Abe no Nakamaro, during his prolonged stay in China. The circumstances in which he wrote it have been unclear, some say that he drew blood from his finger to write it upon his sleeve during his incarceration and others ascribe the origin to the more joyful occasion of a farewell entertainment given by the poet's Chinese friends on the eve of his sailing for home. The poem reads; Ama no hara furisake mire ba Kasuga naru Mikasa no yama ni ideshi tsuki kamo, (The moon that I behold over the wide Plain of Heaven, is it the same moon that shone on Mikasa Mountain in the land of Kasuga?)

Other impressions are in Vignier & Inada (Paris 1913), No. 229; Tokyo National Museum Catalogue (Tokyo 1960), No. 3865; Hokusai, Ukiyo-e taikei (Tokyo 1974), Vol. 8, Pl. 184; Forrer, Hokusai (London 1992), No. 69; Lane, Hokusai (New York 1989), Pl.274