Inn in Kusatsu 108/500

Kusatsu, a renowned hot spring resort town in Gunma Prefecture, is depicted through the characteristic architecture of its traditional ryokan inns — the heavy timber beams, the layered tile roofs, the warm interior light glimpsed through paper screens. Nishijima renders the inn's façade with his characteristic architectural exactness while imbuing the scene with the particular feeling of refuge that Japanese hot spring inns provide: the sense of a place set apart from ordinary time, where the business of seasonal enjoyment supersedes the urgencies of daily life. Numbered 108 of an edition of 500, this print represents Nishijima's sustained engagement with Japan's traditional hospitality culture.