Shiba Zôjô-ji, Taishô period, dated 1925

Dated 1925 and thus attributable to the late Taisho period (1912–1926), this print of Zojo-ji in Shiba was produced during one of the most productive phases of Hasui's collaboration with publisher Watanabe Shozaburo. The Great Kanto Earthquake of September 1923 had destroyed much of Tokyo and damaged the Watanabe atelier's stock of blocks and prints; the subsequent years saw intensive rebuilding of both the city and the shin-hanga publishing operation. A 1925 Zojo-ji design may reflect the period's heightened documentary interest in surviving Edo-era monuments. Early Taisho-period impressions from this era are distinguished by the quality of the pigments—particularly the depth of the indigo-based blues and the warmth of the reds applied to the gate's lacquered surfaces—and by the absorption characteristics of the washi used before wartime shortages altered paper quality.