Spring Moon at Ninomiya Beach

Hasui's Ninomiya Beach subject appears here in an impression that foregrounds the relationship between the moon and the sea, two elements that dominate his coastal night scenes. The composition is organized along a vertical axis from moon to reflection, with the horizontal line of the beach and distant cape providing a mid-ground anchor. Coastal pines introduce the only irregular, organic silhouettes into an otherwise smooth and expansive scene. The color in shin-hanga night prints relied on a relatively small number of blocks—often two or three—to build up the full tonal range of a night scene, with the deepest blues or blue-blacks requiring multiple passes of the baren across dampened washi paper. The Ninomiya coast was familiar territory for Hasui, who worked along the Shonan coastline on numerous occasions, and the composition reflects an intimate knowledge of the specific light conditions at this beach in the spring months.