Futago Island - Moonlight At Matsushima

A second Futago Island moonlight composition, this print likely represents a variant treatment of the same Matsushima subject with a different compositional arrangement, moon position, or foreground detail. Hasui's multiple versions of the Matsushima moonlight theme reflect both the subject's popularity with collectors and the publisher's commercial strategy of issuing variant compositions of proven subjects. This version may emphasize the island reflections more strongly, or shift the moon's position relative to the pine silhouettes to alter the composition's balance. The bay's shallow-water tones—cool grays and muted blues—would be achieved through successive printing passes on dampened washi, the paper's absorbency contributing to the soft tonal gradations characteristic of shin-hanga nocturnal prints. Differences in the surviving impressions make precise comparison between variant editions reliant on physical examination of the blocks' registration marks and color sequences.