Pines at Miho seashore - Miho no matsubara

Miho no Matsubara, the famous pine forest extending along the Suruga Bay coastline near present-day Shizuoka City, was one of the canonical meisho of Japanese landscape art, celebrated in classical poetry and painting for the view of Mount Fuji framed through its trees. In this print, Hasui depicts the long coastal pines with the sea and possibly the white cone of Fuji visible in the distance, following an established compositional tradition while applying the atmospheric color printing techniques of shin-hanga. The horizontality of the seashore setting contrasts with the vertical emphasis of individual trunks. Sky and water receive gradated bokashi treatment, the sea rendered in layered blues that shift toward the horizon. Miho no Matsubara was designated a UNESCO World Heritage component in 2013 as part of the Fujisan Cultural Landscape.