Autumn moon

"Autumn moon" pairs two canonical subjects in Japanese print tradition: the harvest moon, and the foliage that defines the kōyō season in the Kyoto hills. The composition likely sets a luminous moon against a darker sky [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi), with maple branches in the foreground — separate color blocks would have been required to register the vermilion, orange, and ochre tones that typify autumn-leaf passages in Ido Masao's work. Within his four-decade Kyoto practice, autumn prints occupy a particular niche, recording temple precincts and garden views as the maples turn through the late October and November weeks that draw visitors to sites such as Tofukuji, Eikando, and the eastern hills around Higashiyama. The print connects his contemporary mokuhanga to the long tsuki-no-aki tradition reaching back through Edo period [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) and the older waka and haiku poetic register that established the autumn moon as a defining seasonal image.