Cranes fly over the water at Wakanoura, while others stand among the reeds on the near shore. Across the sloping bookrest, fine lines of gold follow the incoming waves around rocks and small islands planted with pines. The landscape continues onto the lower panel, so that it remains visible beneath a book placed on the stand. Flowering vines spread across the uprights and shaped feet.

Wakanoura was celebrated in Japanese poetry long before it became a subject for lacquer artists. A verse in the eighth-century Man’yōshū describes the tide covering the flats and cranes calling as they fly towards the reed beds. The scene on this stand draws on those familiar details. Against the dark lacquer, the finely worked water and softly graded hills give the composition depth without losing the clarity of the birds and shoreline.

The stand is accompanied by a paulownia-wood box bearing an inscription that records it as a gift from the Kaya-no-miya household.