Inland sea

The title points to the Seto Naikai, the body of water between Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, and a recurrent subject of shin-hanga landscape work for its scattered islands, calm channels, and shifting atmospheric light. A typical treatment of the subject uses bokashi gradations on water and sky to register distance, with the silhouettes of sail or fishing boats establishing scale and human presence. Ishikawa, born in Kochi on Shikoku, would have known the Inland Sea coastline directly from his early years. His yoga training is generally legible in his landscape work through clear horizon lines, volumetric cloud forms, and an attention to light source rather than the diagrammatic atmospheric conventions of earlier ukiyo-e seascapes. The print sits among the marine and topographic subjects of his print output, a quieter strand than the nudes that draw more collector attention. It also aligns him with the broader shin-hanga project of reimagining traditional meisho-e through modern artist–carver–printer–publisher collaborations.