Hanga
Takyama San no Machi B by Kawada Kan — Japanese Woodblock print

Takyama San no Machi B

by Kawada Kan

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
Watanabe Print

Description

San-no-machi is one of Takayama's best-preserved historic merchant streets, lined with Edo-period sake breweries, craft shops, and latticed machiya townhouses. In this woodblock print — likely a companion to a related view designated 'A' — Kawada Kan depicts the street's characteristic architectural rhythm: low rooflines, dark timber facades, and the lanterns or noren curtains that mark active establishments. His stencil-influenced compositional method translates the street's repetitive structural elements into a patterned sequence of flat color planes and strong verticals, consistent with the katazome aesthetic he developed under Serizawa Keisuke. The 'B' designation suggests this is a variant framing or alternative color treatment within a paired series, a common practice in sosaku-hanga when an artist wished to explore a single location from differing formal perspectives.

More Prints by Kawada Kan

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Frequently Asked Questions

Takyama San no Machi B was created by Kawada Kan (川田幹).