$200–$1,500. Snow and night scenes tend to command premium prices for this artist. Key value factors: Kamei Tobei's prints are modestly priced and accessible to collectors of shin-hanga landscapes.
This [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print depicts the Uji River at moonrise, combining two of the most evocative elements in Japanese landscape art: flowing water and the rising moon. The Uji River, south of Kyoto, flows through a landscape steeped in literary associations, most famously the closing chapters of The Tale of Genji, which are set in Uji. Kamei's moonrise composition exploits the reflective surface of the river, which doubles the moon's presence and transforms the waterway into a corridor of silver light. The transition from daylight to moonlit night is a subject that the woodblock medium handles with particular grace, as the printer can build gradual tonal shifts through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) that evoke the softening of forms under moonlight. The Uji setting adds literary and historical depth to what is already a visually compelling scene.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
the river Uji at moonrise in Kyoto was created by Kamei Tobei (亀井東平).
the river Uji at moonrise in Kyoto depicts landscapes and rivers & lakes, set at Kyoto.
