Five years after Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan (1853), the Harris Treaty was signed, officially opening Japan to trade with the United States. Treaties with Great Britain, France, Russia, and the Netherlands followed soon after, and these five countries became known collectively as the “Five Nations”. Sadahide was well known for designing prints which depicted the lives, fashions and pastimes of foreigners. This print offers a bird’s eye view of a snaking parade of people from these aforementioned five nations, carrying their national flags. There was great interest and curiosity about the foreigners arriving in Japan, and publishers were keen to capitalize on this by producing prints of western subjects.