Girl with red scarf

This [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) woodblock print depicts a young woman wearing a red scarf, a subject type central to Kawano's postwar output. Working in the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) tradition, Kawano carved, printed, and published the work himself, allowing for expressive gouge marks that give the figure's outline an animated, gestural quality distinct from the controlled lines of commercial [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga). The red scarf functions as a bold chromatic anchor, likely printed in one or two blocks to achieve saturated color against a quieter background tone. The composition follows Kawano's characteristic approach of isolating the figure against a minimal ground, drawing Western collectors to its graphic directness. As with much of his figure work, the print balances decorative flatness with subtle attention to pose and expression, situating it within a postwar reassessment of traditional bijin-ga imagery through the lens of the creative print movement.