SHIRAKABARIN B (white birch B)

'Shirakabarin' (白樺林) translates as 'white birch grove' or 'birch forest,' and the B designation places this within a multi-state series. Where a single-trunk shirakaba print might emphasize isolated form, a grove composition introduces rhythm through repetition — multiple trunks creating a screen of vertical elements at varied intervals. Fujita's handling of such subjects typically avoids depth illusionism in favor of a flattened, near-all-over patterning of pale trunks against mid-tone ground. The interplay of positive and negative — white bark against shadowed forest interior — recalls the broader sosaku-hanga tradition of using the washi surface as an active pictorial element rather than merely a support.