Moon At Magome — 馬込の月

The eighth known impression of this Magome composition rounds out a group of closely studied nocturnal views of the same Tokyo neighborhood. Hasui's Magome prints belong to his sustained engagement with the city's peripheral wards, where older architectural forms persisted into the early twentieth century. The composition balances vertical architectural elements — posts, shutters, doorways — against the horizontal sweep of a moon-brightened lane. Hasui's printers worked with bone burnishers and baren to achieve even ink distribution across large areas of sky, and the washi substrate's absorbency affected the final depth of color in each impression. By the eighth print run, small differences in pressure, humidity, and ink mixing may produce subtle shifts in the blue tonality of the sky relative to the first impressions.