Kansanomiya Shrine at Lake Tazawa, from the series Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series

Published as part of Hasui's series Tabi miyage dai-san-shu (Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series), issued by Watanabe Shozaburo, this print depicts Kansanomiya Shrine on the shore of Lake Tazawa in Akita Prefecture. The Tabi miyage series documented Hasui's sketching tours across Japan and represents some of his most geographically diverse work from the early 1920s. Lake Tazawa, Japan's deepest lake at 423 meters, has waters of an intense blue-green color that would have been rendered through layered pigment and carefully controlled bokashi. The shrine precinct, accessible by a path along the shoreline, provides an architectural focal point framed by the open water and wooded hills. Prints from the Tabi miyage series are oban format and reflect the collaborative publisher-artist model central to the shin-hanga movement.