May Rain at Ara River

The Ara River — the Arakawa — in early summer rain is a subject Hasui treated in several variations, each exploring slightly different vantage points or atmospheric conditions along the river's course. The May rains (samidare) carry strong literary associations in Japanese culture, evoking Basho's haiku about the rain falling over the Mogami River and connecting Hasui's work to a deep tradition of seasonal observation. This print likely shows the river's wide, gravelly channel under a diffuse gray sky, possibly with a few human figures, boat traffic, or riverside structures providing scale and compositional grounding. Hasui's rain-scene technique involves a careful balance: enough visual information to identify the location and season, but enough atmospheric softening to convey the dimming, blurring effect of rainfall on perception. The flat light of rainy days eliminates cast shadows, allowing the printing team to work with a gentler tonal palette.