Waterwheel snow — 忍畦

The subtitle 忍畦—referring to a location in the Musashino region west of Tokyo—anchors this snow scene to a specific agricultural landscape. A wooden waterwheel, typically used for irrigation, stands partially stilled in winter, its paddles weighted with accumulated snow or edged with ice where water continues to move beneath the frost. Hasui frequently selected such transitional elements—functional structures caught between motion and stillness, between seasons—as compositional anchors for his winter landscapes. The print likely employs a restricted palette of blue-grays and off-whites, with dark ink conveying wet wood and bare branches, and bokashi gradations softening the sky and water surfaces. This first version represents the original color scheme approved by publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō when the design was first issued.