Sesshu Toyo had begun his painting career at the Kyoto temple, Shokokuji, as a pupil of Shubun, and had moved around 1463 to western Japan, where he had entered the service of the powerful Ouchi clan.

Based in Suo Province, towards the western end of Honshu, the Ouchi are among the primary families to be involved in foreign trade and relations, particularly with China.

While accompanying an Ouchi trade mission to China in about 1467, Sesshu enriches his art by experiencing (as he will later write) the grandiose nature of China.