Evening at Miyajima

The great torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture is the subject of this evening composition, likely among the primary editions of Hasui's Miyajima series. The O-torii stands offshore in the Seto Inland Sea, and at dusk its vermilion lacquered pillars are silhouetted or caught in the last warm light against a graded sky. Hasui's composition would exploit the gate's strong bilateral symmetry and its reflection in the surrounding water, creating a vertical anchor for an otherwise horizontal seascape. The surrounding pine-covered hillside and elements of the shrine buildings may appear in the background. As a shin-hanga print, the design would have been produced collaboratively between Hasui as designer and the carvers and printers of the Watanabe workshop, with particular attention to the tonal range of the evening sky.