Futatsu Hall, Nikko (Nikko Futatsudo)

Date:: 1929
Medium:: Color woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:

Edition:

Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Edition period is the primary value driver for Hasui prints. Pre-war lifetime editions with the Watanabe copyright seal (A through D types) consistently achieve 3–5× the price of posthumous reprints of the same design. Condition is the second key factor — unfaded colors, full margins, and absence of foxing or staining are essential. Subject matter (snow > rain > night > other) provides a further modifier within each edition tier.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal, 1926–1944): $1,000–$4,000
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal, 1946–1957): $400–$1,500
Posthumous/Heisei edition (seal K/I, 1957–present): $150–$600

Description

Futatsu Hall at Nikko (November 1929 version), from the 1929 oban-format series, depicts the Futatsudo at Nikko — the paired subsidiary worship halls within the shrine complex — in an autumn or late-autumn treatment where the surrounding cedar and deciduous forest frame the aged wooden structures. This November 1929 composition is one of several closely related Futatsudo prints from this period, each exploring different seasonal or lighting conditions of the same architectural subject. The Nikko complex's combination of lavish Edo-period decoration and ancient forest gave Hasui a subject of extraordinary richness.