Nagoya Castle, 1932

Dated 1932, this print of Nagoya Castle documents the donjon before its wartime destruction in the May 1945 air raids, giving the image inadvertent historical significance. The early Showa date places the print within Hasui's mature period, when his technical command was at its peak and Watanabe Shozaburo's atelier was producing prints of exceptional color density and registration quality. The composition likely presents the castle across the southern moat, with spring or summer vegetation reflecting in the water. The 1932 dating suggests this may be an independent commission or a designated series print with recorded production year, a documentation practice increasingly common as shin-hanga publishing became more systematic.