This painting portrays Tsuneyo Sano, a character from a Noh play titled Hachi no ki (Potted Plants), in a series of paintings based on actual historical figures. The following scene is when Tsuneyo, in the center of the painting, is placing branches he trimmed from his potted plants into the fire. We can see potted trees, branches from a plum tree and a hatchet on the right side of the veranda. In the explanatory note at the top, it says that Tsuneyo lives in Sano in the Shimotsuke Province (currently known as Tochigi Prefecture).