Nara

Hasui's Nara prints collectively constitute a sustained visual record of one of Japan's oldest and most significant cities, and this design is likely among the earlier or most widely distributed in the group. Nara, the imperial capital from 710 to 794, retained its seventh- and eighth-century temple and shrine complexes largely intact, and by the Taisho and Showa eras had become a primary destination for both domestic and foreign travelers. Hasui would have sketched on site before returning to Tokyo to work out the final design with publisher Watanabe Shozaburo. A view of the park, the pagoda rising above cryptomeria trees, or deer gathered at dusk near the stone lantern approaches to Kasuga Taisha are the most probable subjects. The print follows the shin-hanga convention of combining traditional landscape subject matter with modern printing refinements—improved registration, Western-influenced perspective, graduated atmospheric color.