Naomichi Takegaki, the local governor for Osaka appointed late in the Edo period (1603 - 1867), commissioned local artists to produce paintings on a variety of different subjects.
He compiled them into an album as Naniwa Shogai Jo and took it back to Edo as a souvenir of Osaka after completing his service. The album featured works from leading artists in Osaka including Kocho Ueda, Hanzan Matsukawa and Ippo Mori, providing realistic depictions of daily life for the people of Osaka in the final years of the Tokugawa regime. This picture, which is called Gappo-ga-Tsuji, depicts a young mother passing in front of the Enmado hall, near the West Gate of Shitennoji Temple, warning her children that if they do the wrong thing they will face judgment from Enma, the ruler of the hell after they die. In the days before photos and television, people no doubt used picture albums such as this to embellish tales of their travels.