Inland Sea

This Inland Sea composition represents another variation within Hasui's extended series devoted to the Setonaikai, a waterway long celebrated in Japanese poetry and painting for its gentle scenery. Where earlier ukiyo-e artists rendered the sea with stylized wave patterns, Hasui drew on direct observation during field sketching trips, capturing naturalistic light effects that align with the shin-hanga movement's interest in plein-air sensitivity rendered through woodblock technique. The print likely presents fishing hamlets or pine-crowned rocky outcrops reflected in calm water under a sky rendered with layered bokashi. Color gradation from deep indigo at the water's surface to pale cerulean or rose at the horizon would be achieved through careful hand-mixing of pigments at the press, a hallmark of the Watanabe workshop's production standards.