Kozu, Osaka

This impression of the Kozu, Osaka design reflects the consistent quality maintained by the Watanabe Shôzaburô workshop across multiple printings. Hasui's Osaka subjects capture the city's historic districts during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods, before wartime destruction and postwar redevelopment substantially altered the urban fabric. Kozu, now in Chūō Ward, preserves the site of Kozu Shrine, an institution with roots in the early Japanese imperial court, set within a neighborhood that retained Edo-period scale and character well into the twentieth century. The composition likely places the viewer near water—Osaka's canal network was integral to its urban identity—with architectural elements framing the middle ground and a sky rendered with carefully graded [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) above. The [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) production context means each impression was printed by hand, with water-based pigments applied to dampened [washi](/glossary/washi) and pressure delivered through a [baren](/glossary/baren) to transfer ink from each woodblock in succession.