The sakura (cherry blossom) is the most famous flower of Japan, the beauty of which has long inspired artists in Japan. Created in the middle of the 19th century, Ōka-fu (A sketch book of cherry blossoms) contains the names and illustrations of 29 varieties of sakura, which are painted on silk with delicate brushwork. The artist, Sakamoto Kōnen (1800−53), studied herbal medicine under his father, Sakamoto Jun'an, physician-in-ordinary to the sovereign lord of Kishū Domain (present-day Wakayama Prefecture). Sakamoto Kōnen also worked in Kishū Domain as a physician. The richly bound book bears the ownership stamp of the Kishū Tokugawa family and is presumed to have been dedicated to the lord of Kishū by the artist.