Snow at Yagumobashi Bridge, Nagata — Kobe Nagata Jinja Yagumobashi

The second numbered impression of Hasui's Yagumobashi Bridge composition shows the bridge near Nagata Jinja in Kobe during snowfall. Kobe, a port city with a mixed architectural character, offered Hasui subjects distinct from his Tokyo and rural landscapes, and the shrine precinct at Nagata provided traditional architectural framing for this regional snow scene. The bridge's form — whether stone, wood, or a combination of materials — served as the compositional anchor, with the shrine gate or trees receding into a gradated winter sky. In the shin-hanga print process, gradations in sky and water passages were achieved by wiping portions of the inked block before each impression, a technique requiring significant printer skill. The result in snow scenes is a tonal softness that reinforces the quietude of the winter subject.