MOONLIGHT ON ARAKAWA RIVER, AKABANE

The Arakawa River at Akabane in northern Tokyo was a recurring subject for Hasui, who found in its broad, flat course a quality of unpretentious landscape suited to his contemplative aesthetic. This nocturnal print depicts the river under moonlight, the water's surface—slightly broken by current or wind—fragmenting the moon's reflection into scattered highlights. The low profile of the opposite bank, lined perhaps with willows or bare winter trees, stretches horizontally through the middle register. A moored boat or the faint silhouette of an embankment anchors the composition spatially. The Akabane area retained a shitamachi character in the Taisho and early Showa periods when Hasui was most active—less scenic than Kyoto or Nikko but more intimate and characteristic of everyday Tokyo. This impression is one of two recorded from the composition; variation in the density of the blue ground and the handling of reflected light distinguishes individual printings.