Inokashira Pond (Inokashira no ike)

Date:: 1928
Medium:: Color woodblock print; o-oban
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo
Edition:: Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

River, lake, and coastal scenes form the largest single category in Hasui's output — steady, popular subjects with consistent demand. Value is driven primarily by edition period (pre-war vs. postwar lifetime vs. posthumous), condition, and the presence of seasonal atmospheric effects. Night and rain variants of water scenes command 20–40% premiums over comparable daytime views. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal): $800–$3,000
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal): $350–$1,200
Posthumous/Heisei edition: $150–$500

Description

Inokashira Pond (Inokashira no ike), published in 1928, depicts the natural pond that forms the centerpiece of Inokashira Park in the Musashino area west of Tokyo — the spring-fed lake around which the park was developed in the Meiji period, celebrated for cherry blossom viewing and for the Benzaiten shrine on its central island. This undated 1928 composition appears alongside the 1929 snow version of the same site in Hasui's catalog, suggesting his sustained engagement with the pond across seasons. The calm water surface, overhanging trees, and the shrine island's torii gate formed the compositional elements that defined this celebrated Tokyo park subject.