This second treatment of Kumamoto Castle in samidare rain represents either a revised composition or a different edition issued by Hasui's publisher, Watanabe Shozaburo. Hasui periodically returned to subjects he found compositionally compelling, sometimes altering the vantage point, the intensity of the rain, or the time of day. In this variant, subtle differences in the angle of the rain lines, the degree of atmospheric haze around the tenshu, or the arrangement of foreground elements — a stone bridge, a stand of bamboo, water in the moat — would distinguish the design from the first version. The samidare subject links both prints to a tradition extending from waka poetry through Hiroshige's Tokaido series, situating Hasui's work within a broader continuum of Japanese landscape art.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Kumamoto Castle in Samidare (Rain in May) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水).
Kumamoto Castle in Samidare (Rain in May) depicts castles, spring, and rain.
