Full Moon over Matsuyama Castle (Matsuyamajo meigetsu)

Full Moon over Matsuyama Castle, published in December 1953, depicts the castle of Matsuyama on Shikoku Island — the largest and best-preserved original castle keep in western Japan — under the light of a full moon, its three-tiered white keep rising from the wooded summit of Mount Katsuyama above the city. The meigetsu (harvest moon) over a hilltop castle is among the most classical compositions in Japanese landscape imagery, and Hasui's late treatment combines this traditional subject with his mature bokashi technique for depicting moonlit sky. The December date suggests a cold, clear winter moon rather than the autumnal harvest-moon associations of the meigetsu in poetry.