The orange cartouche at the top left of this surimono - or print commemorating a poetry gathering - contains a poem composed by kabuki actor Arashi Rikan II to mark the seventeenth anniversary of his predecessor Rikan I. The image to its right is of a Japanese lute (biwa) and a cricket.

The print is evidence of the vibrant urban culture which flourished in the Edo period (1615-1868). Kabuki actors often participated in wider cultural activities than just the theatre, for example poetry salons. Developments in wood-block printing meant that their achievements - both on and off stage - could be kept for posterity in beautiful form. Rikan I was a fabulously successful kabuki actor in Osaka at the turn of the nineteenth century, and was known as 'Great Rikan' (Dai-Rikan). He was also a talented poet. Rikan II was a follower of Rikan I's elder brother Isaburô, although he seems to have been more influenced by Rikan's great rival Utaemon III (Shikan).