The accompanying text, from the 18 April 1874 edition of the Graphic, reads:

‘Wherever they go the English cling to their national peculiarities with a remarkable tenacity, and whether John Bull settles in the polar regions of thick-ribbed ice or under the blazing sun of the tropics, or in the more temperate regions which by comparison resemble his own misty island, he carries with him a passion for plum pudding, pale ale, cold baths, horse-racing, cricket, croquet and newspapers. There is a British colony at Yokohama, Japan, and they have introduced the mysteries of football into the Far East… The Japanese are a very go-ahead race, the Government has introduced all sorts of innovations… but we are not yet aware that they have issued an edict compelling every male over sixteen to join an athletic club, and exhibit his prowess at least twice a year at the local Lillie Bridge, under the shadow of the lovely snow-mountain Fusiyama.’