In the snow, Nakayama-Shichin Road, Hida

This print depicts the Nakayama-shichiri road through Hida province, a historically significant mountain route in what is now Gifu Prefecture, recorded under winter snow. The shichiri name refers to the roughly seven-ri length of this mountain passage, which traversed steep terrain along the Hida River gorge. Hasui likely shows a curving road or river valley with bare trees and snow-laden slopes, the verticality of the mountain landscape emphasizing depth and the isolation of the route in winter. The print belongs to his series documenting regional Japan through travel sketching — jissatsu — a working method in which he made on-site drawings to be refined later into woodblock compositions. The cold grey palette and unprinted white of the washi for snow are characteristic of his winter landscape work.