Moonlit Night at Miyajima (Miyajima no tsukiyo)

Date:: 1947
Medium:: Color woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo
Edition:: Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

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. Postwar lifetime editions (1946–1957) bearing the small 6mm J-seal represent authentic lifetime impressions but from the artist's final decade.

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

Description

Miyajima under moonlight returns in this 1947 print — a later and more experienced rendering of the famous floating torii site than the 1921 Second Series version. The tsukiyo title specifies clear moonlit night rather than misty moonlight, meaning the torii and shrine corridors are sharply visible in the lunar illumination, their vermillion color still faintly perceptible against the night sea. The postwar moonlit Miyajima shows Hasui's continued interest in returning to his most famous subjects with a deepened technique.