Ichinokura at Ikegami, Evening (Ikegami Ichinokura [sekiyo]), from the series Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tôkyô nijûkei)

From the series Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tōkyō nijūkei), this print depicts Ichinokura, a locale within the Ikegami district of present-day Ota Ward, at sekiyo—the hour of evening sun. The Twenty Views of Tokyo series, published by Watanabe Shozaburo beginning in 1925, sought to document Tokyo's surviving premodern townscapes amid the rapid reconstruction following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. An evening setting allowed Hasui to render the warm amber and vermillion gradations of a low western sun across rooftops and open ground, a treatment that distinguishes this composition from his cooler nocturnal and snowscape subjects. The Ikegami area, known for the Honmonji Temple complex and its traditional neighborhood fabric, provided subject matter that balanced architectural and landscape elements. The oban-format print demonstrates the careful color registration and graduated bokashi sky technique for which Watanabe's craftsmen were recognized during this period.