Rain scenes are Hasui's second most desirable atmospheric category, carrying a 20–40% premium over comparable clear-weather subjects. Rainy Season, Shinagawa (1931) sold for $4,375 at Christie's Online (2020). The bokashi gradation technique used for rain effects demands superior impressions — well-preserved sky gradations add significantly to value, while faded examples lose much of their impact. Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.
Spring Rain at the Gokoku Temple, published in April 1932, depicts the Gokoku-ji temple in Otsuka, Tokyo — one of the city's largest and most venerable Buddhist temple complexes, built in 1681 by the order of the fifth Tokugawa shogun's mother — under an April spring rain. The temple's main hall (hondo), one of the largest surviving Edo-period wooden structures in Tokyo, and the surrounding precincts of ancient cryptomeria trees would have presented a composition of rain-darkened wood and stone under a soft gray sky. The April timing aligns with the late cherry blossom season and the onset of the spring rains that characterize the transitional period before full summer.
伏見稲荷
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Spring Rain at the Gokoku Temple (Harusame (Gokokuji)) (Harusame (Gokokuji) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in April 1932.
Spring Rain at the Gokoku Temple (Harusame (Gokokuji)) uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on color woodblock print.
Spring Rain at the Gokoku Temple (Harusame (Gokokuji)) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (April 1932).
Spring Rain at the Gokoku Temple (Harusame (Gokokuji)) depicts temples & shrines, spring, and rain.
Spring Rain at the Gokoku Temple (Harusame (Gokokuji)) measures 24.1 × 36.3 cm (Oban format).
