The Nikkō Road
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- 1930
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 36.5 × 24.1 cm
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
by Kawase Hasui
Edition period is the primary value driver for Hasui prints. Pre-war lifetime editions with the Watanabe copyright seal (A through D types) consistently achieve 3–5× the price of posthumous reprints of the same design. Condition is the second key factor — unfaded colors, full margins, and absence of foxing or staining are essential. Subject matter (snow > rain > night > other) provides a further modifier within each edition tier.
The Nikko Road — the great cedar avenue built by Tokugawa Iemitsu as an approach to his grandfather's mausoleum — is one of the most celebrated tree-lined roads in Japan, its cryptomeria cedars forming a cathedral tunnel for over 35 kilometers. Hasui's 1930 print likely shows the avenue in a quiet season, the massive trunks of 300-year-old cedars rising into a high canopy that filters light to a green dimness. The road's combination of human engineering and natural grandeur suited his interest in landscapes shaped by both forces.
1962
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Boshu Taikai
1925
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Nikkō Road was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in 1930.
The Nikkō Road was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1930).
The Nikkō Road depicts travel scenes.
The Nikkō Road measures 36.5 × 24.1 cm (Oban format).
