Hama-cho Riverbank (Hamachogashi)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- August 1925
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
by Kawase Hasui
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.
Hama-cho Riverbank, published in August 1925, depicts the Hamachogashi — the embankment along the Sumida River at the Hama-cho district of Nihonbashi — one of the Sumida's busiest stretches, flanked by warehouses, theaters, and traditional merchant buildings, in a summer composition showing the river's active waterfront life. Hama-cho (literally "beach town") was historically the heart of the river-transported goods trade, its embankment lined with storehouses and lighters unloading merchandise from the river. The August date suggests the summer riverside atmosphere when the Sumida's traffic was at its peak.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Hama-cho Riverbank (Hamachogashi) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in August 1925.
Hama-cho Riverbank (Hamachogashi) uses Bokashi, on color woodblock print.
Hama-cho Riverbank (Hamachogashi) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (August 1925).
