Cherries at Night in Koganei (Koganei no Yozakura)

Koganei no Yozakura — night cherry blossoms at Koganei — depicts the celebrated rows of cherry trees lining the Tamagawa Josui canal in the Koganei district west of Tokyo, viewed after dark during the brief bloom period. Yozakura, the practice of viewing cherry blossoms by night, was a popular Edo-period tradition that continued into the modern era. Hasui's composition likely shows the pale blossoms rendered in white or very pale pink against deep blue or near-black sky, with lamplight or moonlight catching the flower clusters. The linear rhythm of the canal and the repeating forms of the cherry trees along its banks create a strong compositional structure. The technical challenge of representing pale flowers against dark ground required careful planning of the print's color sequence, with the darkest backgrounds printed over preserved light areas on the washi.