Cormorant Fishing on Nagaragawa — 鵜飼（長良川）

This [oban](/glossary/oban)-format print depicts the traditional ukai cormorant fishing on the Nagara River at Gifu, a subject Hasui returned to across multiple editions and publisher collaborations. The composition centers on a ukai boat at night, the fisherman standing at the prow with leashed cormorants working the water lit by the suspended fire basket. Hasui's nocturnal palette — deep indigo and prussian blue water, warm ochre torchlight, and the black silhouettes of birds and boat — was achieved through precise color registration across multiple woodblocks, with the river surface rendered through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations that distinguish still and agitated water. The title's kanji annotation (鵜飼〔長良川〕) confirms this as the Nagara River site specifically, distinguishing it from ukai scenes at other rivers such as the Kiso or Uji.