Autumn moon over Uji river (Kyoto)

The Uji river south of Kyoto carries strong literary associations with the closing chapters of the Tale of Genji and the eleventh-century Phoenix Hall of Byodo-in, and Ito's print sets these layered associations into a quiet nocturne of full moon, water, and autumn foliage. Such compositions characteristically place a low full moon in the upper register against a graduated indigo-to-black sky, the bokashi achieved by wiping pigment across a dampened block before each impression, with crimson and ochre maple leaves clustered along the riverbank to anchor the foreground. Reflections on the slow water are typically suggested by a few horizontal strokes of paler ink rather than detailed ripples, in keeping with the shin-hanga preference for atmospheric simplification over topographical detail. The print sits within Ito's recurring engagement with seasonal moods of the Kyoto periphery, where moonlight, mist, and turning leaves combine into compositions closer to lyrical landscape painting than to the meisho-e tradition of Hokusai and Hiroshige a century earlier.