Summer at Ikaho (Ikaho no natsu)

Ikaho is a hot spring resort (onsen) town in Gunma Prefecture, famous for its long stone staircase (ishidan) of 365 steps ascending the hillside between rows of inns, souvenir shops, and teahouses. Hasui's summer composition captures the town in its warm-weather aspect—likely depicting the stone steps themselves flanked by summer greenery, yukata-clad visitors strolling the steep lane, or a view across the Haruna highlands from the elevated resort. The Ikaho steps are a distinctive compositional element, offering a strong diagonal recession into the picture plane framed by wooden architecture on either side. Published as part of Hasui's extensive survey of Japanese travel destinations, the print uses summer light and foliage to distinguish this version from any winter or autumn treatment of the same site. The warm palette of green and blue against the grey stone steps would have required careful gradation across multiple color blocks to convey the dappled quality of summer shade.