Sono-9

"Sono" in the context of Yoshikawa's titling could refer to either 園 (garden, park) or the demonstrative 其の (that one); both readings are consistent with a non-representational abstract work, and the "-9" indicates the ninth iteration in a series. Yoshikawa's serial method — accumulating numbered prints under a single Japanese keyword — produces variations on a constrained set of formal concerns, comparable to how a composer develops material across movements. As a multi-block mokuhanga, Sono-9 is printed by hand-rubbing with a [baren](/glossary/baren) onto sized [washi](/glossary/washi), with each block contributing one or two colors registered through kentō marks cut into the wood. The compositional density and bold color arrangements typical of Yoshikawa's practice — dynamic shapes, saturated fields, no representational anchor — suggest a print where the title operates as a label rather than a subject. Within the contemporary Japanese mokuhanga community Yoshikawa is unusual for her sustained commitment to abstraction; most peers continue working in some representational mode. Sono-9 contributes to her decades-long demonstration that the medium accommodates non-figurative work as readily as landscape or [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e).