Miyajima

This print presents Miyajima — formally Itsukushima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture and one of Japan's three canonical scenic views — without the atmospheric qualification of mist or snow that characterizes many of Hasui's treatments of the site. The composition likely foregrounds the great torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine, which stands in the sea off the island's shore and changes character dramatically with the tidal cycle. In a clear-weather rendering, Hasui would have worked with a more saturated palette, using the deep blues of the Seto Inland Sea against the vermillion of the gate and shrine corridors. The print may include the mountainous silhouette of Misen in the background and the shrine's otorii reflected in calm water at high tide. Miyajima was one of Hasui's most frequently depicted destinations across his career, and prints of the site span multiple decades and tonal registers from bright afternoon to nocturnal and snow-covered.