Morning at Beppu (Beppu no asa), from the series Selected Views of Japan (Nihon fûkei senshû)

Published as part of the series Nihon fūkei senshū (Selected Views of Japan), this print depicts Beppu, the celebrated hot spring city on Kyushu's Beppu Bay. The series format placed Hasui's composition within a curated survey of Japanese meisho-e landscape subjects. Morning at Beppu would have been among the more distinctive entries in the series, offering Hasui the opportunity to render the town's ubiquitous geothermal steam as it mingles with morning mist. Bokashi gradations across the sky and water communicate the transitional quality of early light before full sunrise. The oban-format print, produced through the collaborative shin-hanga workshop process, demonstrates the nuanced color registration achieved by Watanabe's carvers and printers.