Originally believed to be a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print ca. 1680, this print is actually an example of shin-hanga, a modern revival of the classic woodblock technique. Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885-1962) owned a print studio that pioneered the shin-hanga movement, where he employed dozens of printmakers. The shin-hanga prints were not popular in Japan, so most were sent overseas to North America and Europe, where the Japonisme aesthetic movement was still popular. When the Great Kanto Earthquake rattled Japan in 1923, the studio and all of the original print blocks and stored prints were destroyed. Watanabe and his artists re-carved the lost print blocks, sometimes making subtle changes to the designs.

The S. Watanabe woodcut print shop is still in operation in Tokyo today.

This particular print block, as well as its "sister" in Spartanburg Art Museum's collection (Nagasaki by Moonlight) was likely designed and printed post-earthquake. Another copy of this image is in the Robert O. Muller collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art.