"Moonlight at Sanzenin Shrine, Kyoto. SANZEN'IN SHRINE, OHARA, KYOTO"
by Kawase Hasui
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
- Image courtesy of
- Japanese Art Open Database
by Kawase Hasui
This impression of the Sanzen-in moonlight design represents one of the later printings of the composition. In extended Watanabe edition runs, [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations in sky areas could soften with block wear, and darker tones might become less uniform. The composition's effectiveness depends on precise registration across multiple blocks—the architectural outlines, the garden textures, the sky gradation—and any misalignment or ink inconsistency affects the nocturnal mood Hasui sought. The Sanzen-in subject, with its combination of Buddhist architecture, ancient landscape garden, and mountain setting north of Kyoto, was well suited to the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) movement's program of documenting Japanese cultural geography through atmospheric printmaking.
Woodblock print
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
"Moonlight at Sanzenin Shrine, Kyoto. SANZEN'IN SHRINE, OHARA, KYOTO" was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水).
"Moonlight at Sanzenin Shrine, Kyoto. SANZEN'IN SHRINE, OHARA, KYOTO" depicts night scenes.
