Crows in the Moonlight is one of Sakai Hoitsus pieces that is directly modeled after an Ogata Korin work. It is a fantastic example of the characteristics of the Rinpa school with graphic, simple forms; innovative use of space; and golden tones. Though the Rinpa style originally focused on recreating scenes from classical literature, when Hoitsu revived the style in the nineteenth century, he shifted the themes to concentrate on natural images. In this piece, were on the same level as the dark avian forms, admiring their shapes in silhouette created by the large glowing moon.