Snake year

The print is one of Karhu's zodiac (juni shi) subjects, marking a Year of the Snake (mi-doshi) in the East Asian sexagenary calendar. Years of the snake fall every twelve years, including 1965, 1977, 1989, and 2001, all dates within Karhu's Kyoto career. Zodiac prints traditionally function as nengajo-style new-year images, and Karhu produced them periodically alongside his architectural work. The image likely centres on a single coiled or undulating snake form rendered as a flat decorative shape, with the body outlined in the heavy black keyblock that defines his manner and filled with patterned color, possibly with subtle bokashi gradation in the surrounding ground. Such zodiac prints are typically small in format, intended for new-year exchange, and contrast with the architectural subjects that dominate his output by their decorative, emblematic character. They also connect Karhu to the broader Japanese custom of zodiac printmaking practiced by sosaku-hanga artists of his generation.