'Unryuan' Kitamura Tatsuo was born in Wajima city, Ishikawa, an area renowned for its particular lacquer technique called Wajima-nuri. After having acquired the techniques used in traditional lacquer ware as an apprentice of a local artist, he established a small lacquer workshop 'Unryuan' and produces high-quality works based on a great understanding of classical lacquer ware. His works have entered international private collections and museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum see https://collections.vam.ac.uk museum numbers FE.551:1 to 3-1992 and FE.63:1, 2-2002.

The Hokoku Festival was held at the Toyokuni shrine, Kyoto, in the lunar calendar of August, 1604, commemorating the seventh anniversary of the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). The suzuribako depicts a vibrant atmosphere of the festival copied from a pair of screens, Hokoku Sairei zu Byobu attributed to Iwasa Matabe (1578-1650), currently in the collection of Tokugawa Museum.