Mito, Izu

This print depicts the coastal village of Mito on the Izu Peninsula, a rugged, mountainous promontory southwest of Tokyo that Hasui visited during his sketching travels. Mito's harbor, framed by steep hillsides and pine-covered cliffs dropping into Suruga Bay, offered compositional material quite different from the flat, watery landscapes of Tokyo. Hasui likely structured this composition around the contrast between the angular, rocky coastline and the smooth expanse of water, with fishing vessels or harbor structures providing human scale. The color palette would reflect the region's distinctive light — bright blues and greens typical of coastal Izu rather than the muted grays of urban or winter scenes. The Izu Peninsula appeared in Hasui's travel sketches beginning in the Taisho period, and prints of Izu subjects demonstrate his ability to adapt his tonal approach to the more saturated color conditions of seaside landscapes in clear weather.