Pagoda in Snow

A third version in Hasui's pagoda-in-snow cluster, distinguishable from companion prints through variations in tonal balance and atmospheric treatment. The pagoda subject—likely a well-known temple in Tokyo or its environs, or a site encountered during Hasui's travel sketching—is rendered under winter conditions with each roof tier carrying accumulated snow. Hasui's printmaking method relied on careful on-site observation recorded in brush sketches, later refined into designs for block carving. In snow compositions, the sky register was handled through careful bokashi, transitioning from a warmer tone at the horizon to cooler blue-gray values above, giving a sense of overcast winter light. The horizontal snow ledges on each pagoda eave create a rhythmic pattern that offsets the tower's vertical thrust.