Bamboo Forest, Tama River

This third compositional variant depicting the bamboo forest at the Tama River continues Hasui's engagement with a subject that rewarded multiple interpretations. Bamboo is among the most technically demanding subjects in Japanese woodblock printing: the hollow culms require precise carving to read as cylindrical solids, while the narrow leaves must be cut in quantity without losing their individual identity. Seasonal variation—the different greens of spring growth versus summer maturity, the yellow tones of autumn, the after-rain darkness of wet culms—could differentiate versions of the same nominal subject. The Tama River appears in several of Hasui's published series, and this composition likely shares stylistic qualities with others from the same period, including the characteristic handling of reflected light on moving water visible through gaps in the grove.