Moon over Kiyosumi Garden

In this treatment of Kiyosumi-teien, Hasui's characteristic interest in light transition takes center stage. The garden's broad pond — large enough to boat upon — provided an ideal reflective surface for nocturnal compositions. This version may show the Suigetsu-tei pavilion, whose name means 'Moon and Water Pavilion,' making it a particularly apt subject for a moonlit garden print. Bokashi gradations in the sky and water passages would require the printer's most careful application of pigment with the baren, since slight variations in pressure produce visible tonal inconsistencies in large flat passages. Hasui made this subject at various points in his career; early Watanabe editions show denser, richer pigmentation, while later printings often display lighter tonal ranges reflecting post-war material differences. The composition belongs to Hasui's meisho-e tradition of recording named, recognizable Japanese places.