Mt Unzen in Hizen Province — 雲仙岳

This third-designated impression of the Mt Unzen in Hizen Province composition represents an early state of a design that Hasui produced of the volcanic massif in Nagasaki Prefecture. Early impressions in shin-hanga production are generally characterized by the maximum sharpness of carved line, the deepest color saturation, and the most precise block registration — qualities that could diminish slightly as woodblocks received repeated inking and baren pressure over successive runs. The composition likely shows the Unzen peaks rising above a foreground of volcanic terrain or bay waters, with the steam characteristic of this geothermally active site treated as a compositional element that softens the transition between mountain and sky. Hasui's documentation of Kyushu landscapes through prints like this Unzen subject extended the reach of the shin-hanga project beyond the Kanto region's traditional dominance of the woodblock landscape genre.