Uchisange, Okayama

This print depicts Uchisange, a district in central Okayama situated near the old castle quarter and its administrative precincts, an area of wide, tree-lined streets and Meiji-era public buildings. Hasui made sketching trips through the Chugoku region during the Taisho and early Showa periods to gather material for his regional landscape series. The composition likely captures a street or canal view characteristic of Okayama's lower-lying commercial and civic districts, rendered with Hasui's sustained attention to atmospheric conditions — the particular quality of overcast or late-day light communicated through carefully graded bokashi in the sky block. Uchisange appears infrequently in Hasui's published catalog compared to better-known Okayama subjects, making this print relatively uncommon in the broader survey of his work. Published through Watanabe Shozaburo, the print follows the shin-hanga production model in which Hasui's watercolor sketch was interpreted by specialist carvers and printers.