Amusements at the Beach of Sumiyoshi

A genre of picture called yurakuzu, or pictures of amusements, was popular in the early Edo period, in which men and women dressed in trendy clothes are having fun or enjoying meals at gathering spots such as temples, shrines, or kabuki theaters. This is a yurakuzu with its setting at the Beach of Sumiyoshi; on the 5th and 6th panels are placed part of the shrine building of the Sumiyoshi, the taiko arch bridge, and the torii gate.
The beach of Sumiyoshi used to be a shallow shore; during the low tide on the 3rd of the 3rd lunar month, people gathered for picking up clams there. In this picture people are enjoying the clam digging; cherry trees are blossoming beside the shrine building. Depicted are not only wholesome recreations but drinking party, smoking, or gambling; beside the torii gate, a group of harlots are soliciting, accompanying a little kamuro girl, who holds a kiseru pipe for them. Dandies started fighting and people trying to stop it; drunk man is held on his arms, all of which are typical motifs in yurakuzu pictures.