Snow at a Guest House on Pond's Edge (Chihan kyakushitshu no yuki)
by Kawase Hasui
by Kawase Hasui
Snow scenes represent Hasui's most valuable and technically innovative subject category — he developed specialized carving techniques specifically for depicting falling snow. These subjects carry a consistent 30–50% premium over comparable non-snow designs. Evening Snow at Kambara (a landmark design) achieved $7,200 at Tokyo auction (2024) for a Taisho-era impression. Pine Trees After Snow (first/limited edition) sold for $4,300 at Artelino (2021). Winter Moon over Toyama Moor, combining snow and night effects, reached $3,600 (2022). Pre-earthquake impressions (before September 1923) are the rarest of all, as the Kanto Earthquake destroyed Watanabe's workshop and most early blocks.
Snow at a guest house on a pond's edge — probably at a lakeside ryokan in the Kanto or Chubu region — shows the inn buildings with snow-laden roofs reflected in the still dark water of the adjacent pond. This 1920 print uses the standard chihan (lakeside/pondside) setting for a snow composition, the inn buildings providing the human scale against which the accumulated snow can be measured. The thin pale sky above the snowscape and the dark reflective water below create the tonal range characteristic of Hasui's earliest snow prints.
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Snow at a Guest House on Pond's Edge (Chihan kyakushitshu no yuki) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1920.
Snow at a Guest House on Pond's Edge (Chihan kyakushitshu no yuki) uses Bokashi, on color woodblock print.
Snow at a Guest House on Pond's Edge (Chihan kyakushitshu no yuki) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1920).
Snow at a Guest House on Pond's Edge (Chihan kyakushitshu no yuki) depicts snow scenes and rivers & lakes.
