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Sugarcane fields are a landscape that has been depicted by many artists.

In 1623, during the Ryukyu Kingdom era, a samurai named Gima Shinjō was sent on a mission to China to learn how to manufacture sugar. After this, sugar production began to flourish in Okinawa.

Sugarcane is also cultivated in Hawaii. In the 19th century, Western plantation economies required an enormous workforce. Immigrants from various countries moved to Hawaii to work as laborers, and many people from Okinawa also made the journey across the sea.

In Okinawa, sugarcane continues to be produced. In Hawaii, however, sugarcane production has declined and factories are closing due to the rise of sugarcane production in other countries.

The subject of a painting may be the same — in this case, sugarcane fields — but the way in which the landscape has been rendered by the artist will differ according to the social and historical context in which it was created.

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