Evening Moon at Hongan Temple, Tsukiji

Tsukiji Honganji, a branch temple of Nishi Honganji located in Tokyo's Tsukiji district, is depicted here in the atmospheric evening moonlight conditions that were among Hasui's signature subjects. The temple, notable for its Indo-Saracenic-influenced stone facade designed by architect Ito Chuta and completed in 1934, presented an unusual silhouette within the Tokyo cityscape. Hasui's composition likely places the temple's broad exterior against a moonlit sky, using gradated bokashi to render the transition from dark indigo at the upper register through paler tones near the roofline. The reflective surfaces of the surrounding Tsukiji canal or wet pavement would extend the nocturnal luminosity downward, a compositional device Hasui employed throughout his water and moonlight series.