Shirahige in Snow, Taishô period, dated 1920

Dated 1920, this print belongs to Hasui's early Taisho-period output and most likely depicts Shirahige Shrine on the western shore of Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, where a red torii gate stands directly in the lake's shallows. The 1920 date places this work in Hasui's formative years under Watanabe Shozaburo's publishing program, when he was developing the atmospheric vocabulary that would define his mature style. Under snow, the shrine structures and torii appear as geometric forms against the white expanse of the frozen or snow-dusted lakeshore. The white ground of snowfall, achieved by leaving washi paper unpigmented, contrasts with the ink passages defining architectural forms and distant mountains. This early dating makes the print a document of Hasui's evolving technical and compositional approach.