Rain of the fifth month

The title refers to samidare, the traditional term for the early summer rains of the fifth lunar month, corresponding to the rainy season of late May and June. The subject has been a recurring motif in Japanese print culture since the Edo period, when artists rendered sudden downpours through fine diagonal carved lines suggesting falling rain. Mokuhanga handles atmospheric weather through layered impressions of water-based pigment on dampened [washi](/glossary/washi), with [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations producing the soft luminosity of overcast skies. This print likely depicts a rain-veiled landscape using these techniques, possibly with carved lineation describing descending rain over a quieter ground tone. Joshua Rome, an American printmaker who undertook extensive training in Japanese woodblock methods, has worked through subjects rooted in Japanese seasonal sensibility, and the choice of samidare situates this print within that long iconographic tradition. The handmade paper and carved blockwork remain visible as material presences within the image, an effect produced by the [baren](/glossary/baren)-pressed registration that defines the medium.