Kujukushima, Shimabara

Kujukushima—literally "ninety-nine islands"—refers to the densely scattered island archipelago in the waters off Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, in Kyushu. The Shimabara Peninsula, situated across the Ariake Sea from Kumamoto, forms a distinct geographic feature of the same region. Hasui's treatment of this subject likely depicts the characteristic silhouettes of pine-covered islands rising from still or gently riffled water, with Kyushu's mild light creating soft reflections across the bay surface. Compositions centered on island archipelagos present a serial rhythm of landmass forms against water and sky, a structure Hasui could organize using the layered registration of woodblock printing—separate blocks for water, sky, island masses, and vegetative detail. This impression is one of at least two known versions of the same Kujukushima, Shimabara composition, with possible variation in atmospheric color or bokashi gradation between printings reflecting the hand-printed nature of shin-hanga production and the variability inherent across different print runs.