According to Nobuo Tsuji, an authority on Jakuchū who authenticated this work as a genuine work by Jakuchū, it is possible that Jakuchū saw the elephants in Kyoto when he was fourteen years old. It is also possible that he saw the whale either in Kishū, where whaling was popular, or in Osaka, where whales were exhibited at fairs.
According to Nobuo Tsuji, an authority on Jakuchū who authenticated this work as a genuine work by Jakuchū, it is possible that Jakuchū saw elephants in Kyoto when he was fourteen years old. It is also possible that he saw the whale either in Kishū, where whaling was popular, or in Osaka, where whales were exhibited at fairs.