Catching fireflies — Hotaru-gari

A woman crouches or stands in the summer evening, her attention caught by fireflies (hotaru) drifting through the warm darkness, the hunt for these bioluminescent insects being a beloved summer pastime in Japan. The Japanese title "Hotaru-gari" (firefly hunting) names the activity precisely, placing the print in the tradition of seasonal genre subjects—what the Japanese call kidai, seasonal topics—that organized both poetry and visual art. Shinsui renders the ephemeral summer scene with the quiet attention it deserves.