Hanga
Snow at Shinobazu Benten Shrine by Kawase Hasui — Japanese Woodblock print

Snow at Shinobazu Benten Shrine

by Kawase Hasui

Medium:
Woodblock print
Image courtesy of
The Art of Japan

Description

A second variant in Hasui's extended treatment of Shinobazu's Bentendo, this print likely refines or reinterprets the compositional structure of the primary version. The Bentendo's tiered roofline, draped in snow, anchors the center of the image while the frozen pond's surface recedes in flat planes of cold white and blue. Hasui's characteristic deployment of a dark foreground element — perhaps a stone lantern, a section of wooden railing, or a snow-burdened pine — creates spatial recession and contrasts with the pale distances. The print showcases how shin-hanga printmaking supported iterative redesign: the same subject recomposed for different formats, publishers, or collector markets, each version offering slightly different interpretive emphases while maintaining the scene's essential winter quietude.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Snow at Shinobazu Benten Shrine was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水).

Snow at Shinobazu Benten Shrine depicts snow scenes.