In this painting, men who look like laborers are relaxing around a stove. They are depicted with large, gnarled hands and feet—this is Nissho’s world. He painted such scenes—where you can almost feel the texture of the subjects’ skin—by making fine cuts all over the canvas with a painting knife. The subjects and background are depicted in the same tones, a plain form of expression that Nissho was known for. But if you take a closer look, you will see that there are no shadows—not from the people or the stove, not on the floor or the walls. It is like everything is floating in space. The scene is very real, but is expressed in a peculiar way that is divorced from reality. This is a technique that Nissho continued to use, up to the final painting he made before his early death, Interiors.