After a study conducted by Takeshi YAMAGUCHI, which was followed by Tomoki SHIGE and Yukihiko NAKAMURA, it was generally considered that the work was roughly complete as a manuscript in 1768, and that the author spent the following eight years working on the choice of diction.
山口剛の研究以来、重友毅、中村幸彦と、明和5年を一応の脱稿、それからの8年間は、『雨月物語』の推敲に費やされた、という見方が強かった。