Covered with blue waves, this is a dynamic composition. In making Crane and Blue Waves some six months earlier, Hirafuku again adopted the wave motif, but by using a group of small plovers rather than cranes, he evoked an even greater sense of the sea’s majesty. Come a little closer and take a good look at the picture. The waves are arranged like shoots of bracken, and the spray recalls a group of tadpoles. This delicate, highly original approach was apparently inspired by some decorative patterns on Chinese lacquer ware from the Han Dynasty. Hirafuku’s friends Kikkawa Reika and Kaburaki Kiyokata likened them to musical notes.