Pheasant

The pheasant — kiji, Japan's national bird — appears in Asada Benji's bird-and-flower work with the same attentive naturalism he brings to his landscape subjects. The male pheasant's dramatic plumage, its iridescent green neck and long tail feathers, gave him rich chromatic material for the woodblock medium. His treatment likely places the bird in its natural habitat — woodland edge or field — with the same compositional care he devotes to his architectural and scenic landscapes.