Tsuta Hot Springs in Mutsu Province (Mutsu Tsuta onsen), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, First Series (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"

Tsuta Hot Springs in Mutsu Province is one of the earliest prints in Kawase Hasui's career and a foundational work in his lifelong exploration of Japan's natural landscapes. Created in 1919 as part of his first "Souvenirs of Travel" series published by Watanabe Shozaburo, the print depicts the remote Tsuta Onsen hot spring resort in what was then Mutsu Province, now Aomori Prefecture in northern Honshu. The scene captures the autumn landscape surrounding the hot spring, with trees displaying the rich colors of fall foliage reflected in the still waters of nearby Tsuta-numa pond, creating a mirror-like doubling of the seasonal spectacle.

Tsuta Onsen has been known since the Heian period as a place of healing and retreat, nestled deep in the beech forests of the Hakkoda Mountains. Hasui visited this remote location during one of his earliest sketching journeys to northern Japan, a trip that profoundly shaped his artistic direction. The experience of traveling through Japan's rural landscapes and discovering scenes of extraordinary natural beauty became the defining practice of his career, and this print from the first "Souvenirs of Travel" series records one of the initial inspirations for that lifelong journey.

The autumn coloring in this print required a complex palette of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens, with each hue applied through a separate woodblock printing pass. The reflection in the water demanded equally careful work, with slightly muted versions of each color printed in precise registration to create the effect of a natural mirror. This early work already displays Hasui's characteristic sensitivity to seasonal atmosphere and his ability to convey the essential mood of a place through careful observation of light and color. Tsuta Hot Springs in Mutsu Province holds a special place in Hasui's oeuvre as one of the works that launched both his career and the broader shin-hanga landscape tradition.