Cherry Blossoms at Night, Maruyama

This print depicting night cherry blossoms at Maruyama — Yoshikawa's abbreviated title suggesting familiarity with the site and its associations — belongs to the extended series through which the artist systematically explored the yozakura scene at Kyoto's most celebrated park. The shidarezakura at Maruyama had been a focus of pictorial attention since the Edo period, and Yoshikawa's multiple treatments acknowledge this heritage while employing the color gradation and atmospheric subtlety characteristic of Taishō-era shin-hanga production. The blossoms, rendered with pale pigments on fine washi, emerge from the darkness created by careful printing of deeper tonal passages, the contrast producing the impression of the tree illuminated against a night sky. As a meisho-e subject rooted in Kyoto rather than the more frequently depicted Edo/Tokyo landmarks, these prints also carry regional identity, situating Yoshikawa's work within the ancient capital's distinctive artistic and cultural tradition.