Kitagawa Sōsetsu was one of the top pupils of Tawaraya Sōtatsu, who is recognized as the founder of Rinpa, a school of painting famous for stylized and often colorful depictions of natural forms.

Kitagawa Sōsetsu painted for the Maeda family, powerful rulers of what is present-day Ishikawa Prefecture on the central northern coast of Honshū, Japan’s main island.