Lake Tazawa

Lake Tazawa (Tazawako) in Akita Prefecture is the deepest lake in Japan, and its location in the Tohoku region gave Hasui access to a landscape quite distinct from the more frequently depicted lakes of the Kanto and Chubu regions. The lake is known for its exceptionally vivid blue-green color resulting from its depth and water chemistry, a quality that would have required Hasui to mix unusually saturated blue-green pigments for the water passages. The surrounding mountains of the Ou range and the volcanic peak of Akita Komagatake provide a dramatic backdrop, and the lake's circular caldera shape creates a panoramic quality that influenced how Hasui framed the view. Hasui's Tohoku prints from the 1920s reflect his extensive travel sketching journeys through northern Japan, capturing landscapes that were less familiar to his Tokyo audience than the Fuji or Tokaido subjects. The relative isolation of Tazawako's shoreline would have appealed to his preference for landscapes retaining a sense of undisturbed natural character.