Shuzenji in Rain (Shuzenji no ame)

Date:: 1933
Medium:: Color woodblock print; oban
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo

Edition:

Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Rain scenes are Hasui's second most desirable atmospheric category, carrying a 20–40% premium over comparable clear-weather subjects. Rainy Season, Shinagawa (1931) sold for $4,375 at Christie's Online (2020). The bokashi gradation technique used for rain effects demands superior impressions — well-preserved sky gradations add significantly to value, while faded examples lose much of their impact. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal): $1,500–$5,500
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal): $600–$2,000
Posthumous/Heisei edition: $250–$700

Description

Shuzenji in rain is one of Hasui's most intimate onsen compositions — the famous spa town in the Izu mountains where Minamoto no Yoritomo's son Yoriie was murdered in 1204 takes on a melancholy character in downpour. This 1933 [oban](/glossary/oban) shows the willow-lined Katsura River and the wooden inn buildings reflected in its rain-pocked surface. Rain at a hot spring town had a particular aesthetic — the contrast between the cold, wet exterior and the steaming warmth within — that Hasui rendered through wet-dark palette and [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations.