Seven women walking near a football court

Kemari, a game in which players form a circle and kick a ball back and forth without letting it fall to the ground, was played at the Japanese imperial court as early as the seventh century. Played on a court about six meters (twenty feet) on each side with its corners marked by four trees, the sport was popular among  the aristocracy and later was adopted by warriors and commoners. Kemari competitions continue today.

These women carry shoes and a deerskin ball, equipment associated with the game. Kemari, however, was traditionally played by men. The scene may be an example of mitate, a play on words or images popular during the Edo period (1615-1868), in which an image is presented in an unexpected form or context. A common type of mitate in painting placed contemporary courtesans of the urban "floating world" in scenes from classical Japanese literature, such as The Tale of Genji, which is set in the imperial court. This scene may allude to a famous and frequently illustrated episode in The Tale of Genji, in which a courtier, playing kemari beneath blossoming cherry trees, immediately falls in love after he glimpses a beautiful princess whose cat pushes aside a bamboo blind. The play upon gender and class seen here would have been obvious and amusing to the painting's patron.