Lake Ezu

Lake Ezu (Ezu-ko) is a small natural lake on the outskirts of Kumamoto city in Kyushu, known for the clear reflection of Mount Kinpo across its calm surface. Hasui recorded this location during his extensive sketch travels through the western regions of Japan, rendering the scene with characteristic restraint. This print likely presents the lake under soft, diffused light, with reeds or willow branches framing the near shoreline and the mountain profile mirrored in still water below. Hasui's shin-hanga method depended on close collaboration with publisher Watanabe Shozaburo's carvers and printers, who transferred his watercolor sketches into finely keyed woodblocks. Graduated bokashi passages build the sky and reflective water surface, while dense carved blocks establish the foliage textures of the far shore. The palette is characteristically muted — ochres, grey-greens, and quiet blues — evoking the contemplative character of provincial Japanese landscape far from metropolitan Edo. Prints of Lake Ezu appear in several Hasui series as well as stand-alone editions, so placement in a specific sequence determines the publication date and colophon.