Snow at Inokashira (Inokashira no yuki)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1928
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
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-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.
Inokashira Pond in winter snow — the large park pond in western Tokyo dusted with white, the zelkova trees along the shore bare and snow-limned — appears in this 1928 print as one of Hasui's closest-to-home snow subjects. The pond and its surroundings were a few kilometers from his studio in the Setagaya area, and the familiar landscape appears in several of his compositions across seasons. Snow at Inokashira gave the park's otherwise gentle scenery a degree of graphic severity.
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 Inokashira (Inokashira no yuki) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1928.
Snow at Inokashira (Inokashira no yuki) uses Bokashi, on color woodblock print.
Snow at Inokashira (Inokashira no yuki) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1928).
Snow at Inokashira (Inokashira no yuki) depicts snow scenes.
