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The figure capturing the crocodiles here is Asahina Saburo Yoshihide, a warrior who was celebrated for his valor in the early Kamakura era. His deeds are legendary, and they are depicted in many tales and Kabuki plays. He was the third son of Wada Yoshimori, who would later rebel against the Hojo clan, and was named after the area in which he was born, Asai County in Awa Province (now known as Minami Boso in Chiba). Portrayed here is a scene from a history book of the Kamakura Era, Azuma Kagami. On September 2nd 1200, Minamoto no Yoriie ordered his vassals to demonstrate their military arts while cruising the sea of Kotsubo (in modern-day Kanagawa). Later, while he was giving out drinks of sake on his boat, he ordered Yoshihide, famous as an excellent swimmer, to show his skills. Yoshihide displayed remarkable swimming prowess, and furthermore, dived deep into the ocean and came back to the surface bearing three live sharks. The people on the boat were amazed, and welcomed him back with applause. The sharks are here depicted as crocodiles. These animals are painted based on the image of a caiman, contained in a book called Koumouzatsuwa (1787), written by Churyo Morishima, a scholar who became knowledgeable about western science through interactions with the Dutch in the later Edo era. The same kind of shark appears in Sanukiin’s Divine Messenger Saving Tametomo (1851) as a crocodile-shark.