Snow at Shinobazu Benten Shrine
by Kawase Hasui
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- The Art of Japan
- 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.
More Prints by Kawase Hasui
More Snow Scenes Prints
Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924
Woodblock print

The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban

Miyajima in Snow (Yuki no Miyajima)
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Snow at Shiha Park, Tokyo
1932
Woodblock print
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
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.