Arashiyama In Spring

In this spring view of Arashiyama, cherry blossoms (sakura) dominate the hillside above the Oi River, their pale pink and white rendering achieved through delicate overprinting of semi-opaque pigments on washi. The Togetsukyo bridge and the soft profile of the mountain form a horizontal counterpoint to the vertical cascade of blossoming branches. Spring at Arashiyama was a traditional subject in Japanese art, and Hasui's treatment situates it firmly within the shin-hanga revival of seasonal landscape. The printer's graduated bokashi in the sky — shifting from warm cream at the horizon to a clear pale blue overhead — evokes the hazy light of late March or early April in the Kyoto basin. Hasui's characteristic attention to reflections on still water below the bridge links sky and foreground across the oban-format sheet.