Tengu Rock, Shiobara

This impression depicts Tengu Rock, a dramatic basalt formation rising above the Hōki River gorge at the Shiobara hot spring resort in Tochigi Prefecture. Named for the long-nosed mountain spirits of Japanese mythology, the rock formation provided Hasui with a subject combining geological monumentality with the densely forested gorge landscapes he favored. The composition likely positions the viewer at river level, looking upward along the dark cliff face through a frame of cedar and broadleaf forest. Sky gradations in this shin-hanga print would be achieved through multiple successive printings of dilute pigment on dampened washi, building atmospheric depth through transparent layers. This impression represents a later printing of the Tengu Rock subject, which Hasui recorded in multiple states throughout his career for the Watanabe Shōzaburō publishing house.