The delight in direct observation of nature so evident in this work is a distinguishing characteristic of the Shijo style. We can trace this quality to a founder of the style, Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795), who taught his pupils to sketch directly from nature and whose own work exhibits an alertness to details of form and surface that keep the Shijo style rooted in naturalism.

But, balancing this attention to realism is the equally important element of composition. The grasshopper and corn stalk occupy only half the pictorial space. The rest is absolutely empty. With complete control, Hakuhou gives only a slanting glance at his subject: a few leaves, only one complete, one ear of corn, and one insect. With this minimum of information, we have no trouble imagining a field of hundreds, even thousands of corn stalks and grasshoppers. He has captured the essence of his subject, with no need to elaborate or repeat its forms, no need overstate his point. He simply offers this meticulously composed, highly decorative object to us for contemplation and enjoyment.