"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
One of several recorded impressions of Hasui's nocturnal composition depicting Sanzen-in, a Tendai Buddhist temple complex in Ohara, a rural valley approximately ten kilometers north of central Kyoto. The temple is known for its Shūhekien garden, ancient moss, and the stone figures of the Ōjōgokuraku-in hall. A moonlit treatment would use a deep, graded blue-black sky and selective pale highlights to suggest moonlight falling on stone lanterns, rooflines, and the garden's mossy ground. Hasui built nocturnes through careful registration of multiple blocks and restrained bokashi, keeping the color palette narrow to preserve the impression of darkness. This impression is one of multiple printings of the design; tonal depth in the sky blocks is a key indicator for dating.
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.
