Untitled

A woodblock print by Kawase Hasui belonging to the extensive body of [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) landscape work he produced in collaboration with publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō. Without a title, the precise subject cannot be determined, but the print likely depicts one of the many regional landscapes Hasui recorded during his sketching travels throughout Japan. His subjects ranged from well-known meisho to undocumented rural hamlets discovered during extended journeys to Tōhoku, Kyushu, and the San'in coast. The technical qualities characteristic of Hasui's prints — carefully graduated [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) skies, precise keyblock lines for architectural and natural forms, and rich tonal contrasts between lit and shadowed surfaces — were achieved through close collaboration between Hasui's brush sketches and Watanabe's workshop craftsmen. Printed on absorbent [washi](/glossary/washi), the imagery achieves the softness of watercolor within the precision of the woodblock medium.