The design of this round writing box depicts three goldfish ( kingyo ) swimming in the still, inky blackness of a brilliant roiro ground. The delicacy and movement of the fish is supremely well captured using a combination of gold and silver e-nashiji to draw out the individual scales and feathery fins of each fish in minute detail. The overall technique is togidashie , whereby the design, once formed, is covered over in an application of the background colour (here black) which is then polished away to reveal the design flush with its background.

After the traditional representation of the lid the interior surprises by its contrast of bold stylised bands of silvertogidashiefloating against anashijibackbround. The centrally placed inkstone, withfundamerim andnashijiexterior, is held within a loose frame whose design echoes that of the box that containes it. In the 'window' under the inkstone the work is signed Gosaburo. The box is completed by a silver water dropper and twonashijilacquered brushes.