Hikone Castle in the Early Summer

Hikone Castle, a rare surviving Edo-period castle on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, provides the subject for this [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) inflected print. Hagiwara's treatment of a canonical landmark would differ substantially from [Ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) precedents: rather than situating the castle within a panoramic view or framing it with conventional seasonal flora, he would likely distill the structure into geometric essentials — the sweeping curves of the donjon roofline, the white plaster walls against surrounding greenery. Early summer in Japan brings fresh green foliage and clear light, qualities that in Hagiwara's palette might translate to layered cool greens with bright, high-key areas suggesting the castle's whitewashed stone. The print engages the long tradition of Japanese landscape printing while remaining unmistakably a product of postwar abstract sensibility.