Lake Kugushi , Wakasa

Lake Kugushi (Kugushi-ko) is a small freshwater lake on the coast of Wakasa Province, present-day Fukui Prefecture, lying close to the Sea of Japan and separated from Obama Bay by a narrow pine-forested barrier dune. Its unusual coastal configuration—enclosed lake water, pine groves, and open bay in close proximity—gave it a distinctive character among Japanese lake subjects. Hasui depicted Kugushi across multiple prints, drawn by the spatial layering its geography afforded: dark pine silhouettes along the dune, calm lake surface in the middle ground, and either sky or sea hills at the horizon. This print likely situates the viewer at or near water level with the pine barrier visible across the lake. The graduated bokashi technique applied to both sky and water creates tonal continuity between the two horizontal planes, while the dark pine mass provides the vertical contrast essential to the composition's balance. Printed in oban format on washi.