Thanks for all the tips - definitely going with the styrofoam option.
Being a lazy bugger just-bases.com look very reasonable - 200mm x 300mm plain mdf base £4.00... (I know I could buy a large amount of mdf sheet for the same price but time is short!). Mind you 28 days for delivery might mean I am reclaiming picture frames...

Nice flowers from Duhamel - might have a go at them as well. What I was reallly after was recreating this -

As for the disrespectful peasants - maybe I should have put in a disclaimer that I would be taking terrible liberties with historical accuracy!

Must admit I was a little dubious about whether it was proper for a samurai to be showing public affection for a geisha!
How about changing the samurai riding off to war to enemy samurai making a quick get-away from a daring raid behind enemy lines - the geisha looks on, smitten by the brief glimpse she had of one of the dashing young rogues! The peasants forget their places in their surprise... Or maybe I should quit with the historical accuracy thing! Sorry!

Here's the minis I intend to use -
From the Perry Samurai range


Its the middle samurai who I thought looked as if he might have caught sight of something in the distance...
and from Taban miniatures

Apologies again if this geisha is totally inaccurate too - just quite liked the mini.