Man Strolling with a Boy Carrying Flowering Branch

This scroll depicts a young man walking with a boy carrying a plum branch. The man has a shaved pate which indicates that he is a wakashu. He is dressed in many layers of patterned kimonos similar to a woman, but with a black men’s jacket over the top, which shows how wakashu were seen to participate in both male and female gender roles. His feet in sandals are visible peeking out the bottom of his kimono, and one hand can be seen at the base of his throat, an erotic gesture at the time. The color of his clothes are mostly plain, although small patches of red are seen around his sleeves and waist, also erotic. The blossoming branch is a symbol for sexual coming of age, with the plum signifying male sexuality and the cherry, female. This is confirmed by the poem at the top of the top of the scroll which reads, “The full blooming cherry is not the only flower/worth mentioning/The color of the young plum tree blooms as well,” indicating that the image is meant to convey the sexual potential of the wakashu to the male viewer.