Rapids in Kunitachi Park in Towada in snow (Oirase)

The Oirase Stream near Towada is depicted here in winter, with snow covering the banks and ice forming along the rapids in Kunitachi Park. Ito Takashi renders the contrast between dark rushing water and white snow with the full tonal range of the woodblock medium, using multiple printing passes to build up the depth of shadows beneath overhanging snow-laden branches. The rapids themselves, where water tumbles over submerged rocks, resist freezing even in deep winter, creating passages of dark movement within the otherwise still and silent snowscape. This winter version of the Oirase complements Ito's spring depiction of the same stream, together documenting the radical seasonal transformation that Japanese mountain waterways undergo. The snow muffles the scene visually just as it muffles sound in reality, reducing the landscape to essentials of black water and white ground.