Engetsu Island, Shirahama (Shirahama Engetsuto)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1951
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Typical Price
Edition period is the primary value driver for Hasui prints. Pre-war lifetime editions with the Watanabe copyright seal (A through D types) consistently achieve 3–5× the price of posthumous reprints of the same design. Condition is the second key factor — unfaded colors, full margins, and absence of foxing or staining are essential. Subject matter (snow > rain > night > other) provides a further modifier within each edition tier. This postwar design (1946–1957) bears the small 6mm J-seal on lifetime impressions — authentic but from the artist's final decade, when block quality had declined from peak period.
- Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal, 1926–1944): $1,000–$4,000
- Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal, 1946–1957): $400–$1,500
- Posthumous/Heisei edition (seal K/I, 1957–present): $150–$600
Description
Engetsu Island at Shirahama, published in 1951, depicts the natural rock arch of Engetsuto — the "crescent moon island" — at the Shirahama beach resort in Wakayama Prefecture on the Kii Peninsula. The Engetsuto, a limestone arch eroded from the beach's rocky headland that frames views of the Pacific through its circular opening, is the defining landmark of Shirahama, Japan's Meiji-era resort coast. Hasui's 1951 composition likely captures the arch with the sea visible through its opening, the composition's unusual natural-arch framing device creating a distinctive landscape format in his catalog.
More Prints by Kawase Hasui
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Engetsu Island, Shirahama (Shirahama Engetsuto) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1951.
Engetsu Island, Shirahama (Shirahama Engetsuto) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1951).
Engetsu Island, Shirahama (Shirahama Engetsuto) depicts landscapes, seascapes, and moonlight.