Winter Mansion (Girinsô), Shôwa period,

"Winter Mansion (Girinsô)" depicts a specific named building — Girinsô, possibly an inn, villa, or estate — in a snow-covered winter setting during the Shôwa period. Snow-scene prints in the Japanese tradition emphasize the compression of color toward near-monochrome: the white of snow defines itself against dark architectural forms, bare branches, and a heavy sky. Kawano would have used the unpainted washi paper surface to represent snow, relying on precise registration of surrounding color blocks to define the white areas by contrast — a demanding technique that leaves no margin for misalignment. The Shôwa period dating locates this work within postwar Japan, where landscape subjects remained popular alongside Kawano's more commercially prominent figurative prints. Girinsô as a named site suggests either a location of personal significance or a commission tied to the property. The composition likely balances the geometric weight of the building against organic forms of snow-laden trees, with a simplified sky achieved through flat or lightly graduated ink.