Composed at the commission of pianist Midori Matsuya (1943-1994), all ten pieces were premiered by him. Matsuya, in evaluating Sato's music, stated, "While it differs from Romanticism, it possesses a unique world of Japanese inner imagery." This observation also applies to the present work. This is because the pieces were composed, inspired by the "visual colors" of various landscapes and scenes from across Japan, which many Japanese people can readily envision. The scores include visual images that inspired the composer himself.

Collection 1 (1977)

• Dull Green and Lullaby of a Tombstone
• Season of Yellow and Black
• Requiem in August
• Sorrowful Face

"Dull Green and Lullaby of a Tombstone," which repeats a short-long limping rhythm, is said to be "a song for the warmth of my grandmother." It depicts a summer scene during the reburial of his grandmother, who had been interred in an earthen grave. "Season of Yellow and Black" depicts "May in Ura-Nihon [Japan Sea side] with rapeseed blossoms," a scene witnessed around the time of his father's death. Perhaps it is a scene from Mikawa Town (a famous spot for rapeseed blossom festivals), close to Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, where the composer was born and raised? "Requiem in August," characterized by a persistent bass ostinato, is a midsummer scene mourning those who died in the atomic bombing. Offerings include watermelon, and outside, the dark brown of cicadas is visible. "Sorrowful Face" is a monochrome photograph depicting the Vietnam War, which had just ended two years prior to the composition (1975). Within it, the emaciated figure of a boy who lost his parents can be seen. The final three measures, marked lento, are in a mirror-image relationship with the beginning of the piece.

Collection 2 (1979)

• Blue Winter
• Vermilion Dance
• One-Legged Torii

"Blue Winter" portrays the impression of a "blue morning with accumulated snow" in a northern country, depicting it from various angles while subtly shifting tempo and musical character. "Vermilion Dance" is said to depict people and their fervor dancing wildly, illuminated by candlelight inside a farmhouse, but what exactly are they doing? A song is spun from the chilly opening, gradually transforming into a dance. "One-Legged Torii," which lost one side due to the atomic bombing, still exists at Sanno Shrine in Nagasaki. Sato composed a piece for shakuhachi solo titled "Image of the One-Legged Torii," and as can be seen from the fact that a motif rising an octave and then descending a second is also the theme in that work, it is likely a musical motif representing the one-legged torii. Nagasaki in 1945, turned gray.

Collection 3 (1986)

• Landscape with Tea Fields
• Fishing Village with Stone-Roofed Houses
• Bamboo Grass Carpet Slides into the Northern Sea

"Landscape with Tea Fields" refers to "Hachijuhachiya" (the eighty-eighth night after the first day of spring), which is the tea-picking season in early May. The color is, of course, "green," and the note E continues to resonate like a signal. "Fishing Village with Stone-Roofed Houses" depicts a not-so-bright beach scene in Ura-Nihon (Japan Sea side). Amidst repeating wave-like patterns, light, rocks, and white spray appear. "Bamboo Grass Carpet Slides into the Northern Sea" depicts a field of short Sasa bamboo grass spreading across Cape Soya. The way it seamlessly continues into the sea is powerfully portrayed through repeating musical motifs.