Lake Kugushi- Wakasa

A fourth variant of Hasui's Lake Kugushi subject, the multiple renderings indicating the Wakasa lake held sustained compositional appeal across several print campaigns. Variants among his Kugushi designs likely differ in season—spring with new pine growth, summer haze, autumn with browning undergrowth, or winter snow on the barrier dunes—or in light conditions, from overcast midday to evening twilight. Hasui's practice of returning repeatedly to a single location and producing multiple print designs from different sketches reflects both his methodical approach to place-study and the commercial logic of Watanabe's workshop, which could market variant views to collectors who already owned earlier editions. Wakasa Province's position off the primary Tokaido and Sanindo routes gave Kugushi a quality of regional particularity that distinguished such prints from the heavily worked Fuji and Tokaido subjects. The print follows oban format and standard Watanabe production conventions of the Taisho or early Showa period.