Moon over Itako (Itako no tsuki)

Date:: 1936
Medium:: Color woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo

Edition:

Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Night views with moonlight and lantern effects carry a 20–30% premium over comparable daytime scenes. The dramatic tonal contrasts required for nocturnal subjects make impression quality especially important — fine examples from pre-war printings show a depth of color that later editions rarely match. Prints with well-preserved black areas and accurate moonlight bokashi command the highest prices. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal): $1,500–$5,000
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal): $600–$2,000
Posthumous/Heisei edition: $250–$700

Description

Itako's network of waterways and reed beds makes it one of the finest moonlit landscapes in the Kanto region — the flat water surface reflecting a full moon while willows and reeds silhouette against the night sky. This 1936 print shows the Moon over Itako in its characteristic horizontal waterscape mode, the long still canal extending from a darkened bank under a moon-brightened sky. Itako appears multiple times in Hasui's output in different atmospheric conditions — rain, dusk, and moonlight.