Lingering Snow at Hikone Castle

Hikone Castle, a rare surviving Edo-period fortress on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, provided Hasui with a subject combining monumental architecture and natural landscape. In this composition, residual snow — zansetsu, the term for snow that persists after the main fall — clings to the castle's white plastered walls and tiered rooflines, blurring the distinction between the structure and the winter sky. The castle's donjon typically appears reflected in the moat or lake below. Hasui used the horizontal geometry of castle architecture as a counterpoint to the organic forms of snow-laden pine branches, a compositional device he employed across several castle subjects.