Edition period is the primary value driver for Hasui prints. Pre-war lifetime editions with the Watanabe copyright seal (A through D types) consistently achieve 3–5× the price of posthumous reprints of the same design. Condition is the second key factor — unfaded colors, full margins, and absence of foxing or staining are essential. Subject matter (snow > rain > night > other) provides a further modifier within each edition tier. This postwar design (1946–1957) bears the small 6mm J-seal on lifetime impressions — authentic but from the artist's final decade, when block quality had declined from peak period.
Shin Bridge at Nikko, published in December 1953, depicts the sacred Shinkyo — the "divine bridge" — a vermillion-lacquered wooden arch bridge spanning the Daiya River at the entrance to the Nikko shrine complex, rebuilt in its present form in 1636 and used exclusively by the shogun and imperial messengers. The bridge's vivid red over the clear mountain river, framed by ancient cedar and the forested slopes of the Nikko mountains, is one of Japan's most photographed architectural subjects. Hasui's late treatment of December 1953 likely captures the bridge under winter conditions — snow on the railing or frost on the surrounding rocks — in the mountain cold of inner Nikko.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Shin Bridge, Nikko (Nikko Shinkyo) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in December 1953.
Shin Bridge, Nikko (Nikko Shinkyo) uses Bokashi, on color woodblock print.
Shin Bridge, Nikko (Nikko Shinkyo) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (December 1953).
Shin Bridge, Nikko (Nikko Shinkyo) depicts landscapes and bridges, set at Nikko.
