The Territory of Amakusa (Amakusa goryô), from the series Selected Views of Japan (Nihon fûkei senshû)

From Hasui's series Nihon fûkei senshû (Selected Views of Japan), published by Watanabe Shôzaburô, this print depicts the Amakusa archipelago in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu. Amakusa comprises over one hundred islands scattered across the Yatsushiro Sea and carries historical associations with the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637–38, Japan's largest Christian uprising. Hasui's composition likely shows a coastal view of the islands: calm inland sea water, land masses receding in atmospheric perspective, perhaps fishing boats or mooring posts in the foreground establishing scale and local character. The series aimed to document the visual diversity of Japan's regional landscapes for urban audiences, and the Amakusa subject gave Hasui the opportunity to render the particular quality of light on an enclosed, island-dotted sea—distinct from the Pacific coastlines and mountain landscapes of his Kantô subjects. The muted blues and greens typical of overcast western Kyushu light would be handled through bokashi gradation, with the islands diminishing in value and saturation toward the horizon.