Sarusawa Pond in Nara
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- c. 1935
- Medium:
- Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 25.6 × 26.4 cm
by Kawase Hasui
River, lake, and coastal scenes form the largest single category in Hasui's output — steady, popular subjects with consistent demand. Value is driven primarily by edition period (pre-war vs. postwar lifetime vs. posthumous), condition, and the presence of seasonal atmospheric effects. Night and rain variants of water scenes command 20–40% premiums over comparable daytime views. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.
Sarusawa Pond in Nara, dated circa 1935, depicts the small artificial pond at the base of the Kofuku-ji temple precinct in central Nara — a pond created in the Nara period as part of the temple's sacred landscape, its surface reflecting the five-story pagoda of Kofuku-ji, one of the defining views of the ancient capital. The pond's still surface, the pagoda's reflection, and the surrounding willows and persimmon trees give Sarusawa-ike a classical compositional structure that Hasui would have treated with the same atmospheric care he brought to Shinobazu and other famous pond subjects. The circa 1935 date places this in his mature period.
Nikko Chuzenjiko
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Sarusawa Pond in Nara was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in c. 1935.
Sarusawa Pond in Nara was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (c. 1935).
Sarusawa Pond in Nara depicts rivers & lakes, set at Nara.
Sarusawa Pond in Nara measures 25.6 × 26.4 cm (Oban format).
