Rain in Maekawa, Söshü

This first printing of Rain in Maekawa, Söshü presents the Sagami Province coastal town of Maekawa under a rain-laden sky. The umlaut romanization of Söshü reflects an older Hepburn-adjacent transliteration convention used in some Watanabe Shozaburo publications. Compared to later states, first impressions typically carry the most precise bokashi transitions, with sky gradations moving from deep gray or indigo at the upper register down to lighter tones above the horizon. Maekawa's flat topography allowed Hasui to construct a spacious composition, possibly featuring a riverbank or field in the foreground with low buildings or trees receding into rain haze. The diagonal rainfall marks, printed from a dedicated block, overlay the color layers and are most crisply registered in early impressions before the rainfall block experienced wear.