Sunset

A counterpart to Shajitu in its concern with the transitional light of the day's end, Sunset is likely a more overtly coloristic composition — the sky itself becoming part of the subject, with warm reds and oranges above a darkening silhouette of rooftiles, temple structures, or a riverbank. In Japanese printmaking the sunset sky is a subject with deep antecedents, from Hiroshige's cloud-draped western horizons to the dramatic twilights of mid-century sosaku-hanga. Nishijima's version would likely be more architecturally grounded than purely atmospheric — a specific building profile or landscape element in the foreground giving the sky its scale. Bokashi gradation across multiple sky-register blocks would render the tonal transitions from pale yellow at the horizon through orange and red to the deep blue-grey of the upper sky.