Yanagawa

Yanagawa in Fukuoka Prefecture is a castle town defined by its network of waterways traditionally navigated by pole-propelled flat-bottomed boats (donko-bune) beneath overhanging willows. The subject invites a horizontal composition emphasizing the reflective canal surface, trailing willow branches, and the slow passage of a low boat through dappled light. Sekino would likely exploit bokashi gradation in the water and sky, with the characteristic pale green of willow growth applied in layered transparent washes. The willow branches—curving arcs of fine carved lines that exploit the gouge's flexibility—would animate the composition's upper registers against a simplified architectural background. Yanagawa's canals were associated with the Meiji poet Hakushū Kitahara, who grew up there, giving the subject a literary resonance in addition to its landscape qualities. The print belongs to Sekino's series of regional Japanese place studies.