Evening at Tagonoura — Tago no Ura no Yuu

This impression of Evening at Tagonoura (Tago no Ura no Yuu) is one of multiple surviving printings of a composition Hasui produced for Watanabe Shôzaburô's shin-hanga publishing operation. The bay of Tago no Ura in Shizuoka Prefecture, associated in classical waka poetry with pure white snow on Fuji's slopes, provided Hasui with a subject that combined natural grandeur with literary resonance. Hasui's evening light treatment, rendered through layered bokashi gradations on washi, transforms the bay's open geometry into a study in atmospheric quietude. Variations between this and related impressions of the same design may include differences in the depth of the sky's indigo tones or the handling of light on the water's surface, evidence of the hand-printing process inherent in woodblock production.