This is a color picture book with portraits of 50 representative kyōka (comic tanka) poets in the late Edo period and their own kyōka. The portraits were drawn like dynastic poets by Kitao Masanobu (his popular writer name is Santō Kyōden).

Azumaburi Kyōka Bunko (Eastern-Style Comic Tanka Library) was drawn by a young and energetic ukiyo-e (woodblock prints) artist, Kitao Masanobu (or Santō Kyōden), selected by Yadoya Meshimori (his real name was Ishikawa Masamochi), and produced by Tsutaya Jūzaburō, a person famous for his great performance, promoting Kitagawa Utamaro and Tōshūsai Sharaku to be successful later. The success of this book also made him a top-selling publisher.
Kyōka, or a Japanese poetic style that has a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable pattern with socially satirical, ironic and witty verse, had its highlight during the period between 1781 and 1789. Kyōka poets were samurai warriors, merchants, Edo residents and local people and they were very active in those days, enabling cross-social and cross-regional networks to be established.