Fuji - yotsugiri

A small-format woodblock print in the yotsugiri size—one-quarter of a standard oban sheet—depicting Mount Fuji. The yotsugiri format was commonly used for series of portable, affordable prints that could be collected as sets. This composition is the first of at least three Hasui designs bearing the same title, likely differing in season, viewpoint, or weather condition. Hasui's economy within the compact dimensions is characteristic: foreground elements such as pine branches, water reflections, or a distant tree line establish spatial depth without crowding the composition. The mountain itself, Japan's most symbolically resonant peak, would be rendered with restrained color—pale blues and greys for the snow zone, deeper tones for the slopes—achieved through careful registration of multiple woodblocks. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo, these small prints represent an accessible tier of the shin-hanga production model.