Matoba Beach at Takehara — 竹原的場

This second design of Matoba Beach at Takehara (竹原的場) likely approaches the same site from a different vantage point or depicts it under altered seasonal or atmospheric conditions. Hasui's habit of producing variant prints of sites he found particularly productive reflects both his working method — sketching extensively on location before composing final designs — and the commercial logic of the Watanabe publishing house, which issued multiple treatments of popular subjects. Takehara's Seto Inland Sea setting provides a characteristically Japanese coastal mood: calm water, pine-clad rocky shores, and a soft atmospheric haze that Hasui captured through careful bokashi gradation across sky and sea registers. The flat, protected waters of the Inland Sea appear smoother and more reflective than the open Pacific coastlines, giving these compositions a mirror-like quality distinct from his Japan Sea prints. The two Matoba Beach designs together document Hasui's sustained engagement with this overlooked corner of Hiroshima Prefecture's coastline.