Winter Moon at Toyamagahara (Fuyu no tsuki [Toyamagahara])

Date:: 1931
Medium:: Color woodblock print; oban
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo
Edition:: Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Snow scenes represent Hasui's most valuable and technically innovative subject category — he developed specialized carving techniques specifically for depicting falling snow. These subjects carry a consistent 30–50% premium over comparable non-snow designs. Evening Snow at Kambara (a landmark design) achieved $7,200 at Tokyo auction (2024) for a Taisho-era impression. Pine Trees After Snow (first/limited edition) sold for $4,300 at Artelino (2021). Winter Moon over Toyama Moor, combining snow and night effects, reached $3,600 (2022). Pre-war lifetime editions bearing the Watanabe copyright seal (A through G types, 1926–1944) are the most desirable.

Pre-war lifetime edition (Watanabe seal): $2,000–$6,500
Postwar lifetime edition (J-seal): $800–$2,500
Posthumous/Heisei edition: $300–$800

Description

Winter Moon at Toyamagahara, published in 1931, depicts the Toyamagahara — the broad plain and former parade ground on the western edge of central Tokyo near what is now Shinjuku ward — under moonlight in winter, the open field's snowy surface and bare trees catching the cold light across a flat, expansive composition. The [oban](/glossary/oban) format allows the composition's horizontal breadth to develop fully: dark bare trees framing the moon, the pale snowfield extending to the city's low skyline, the sky graduating from deep indigo above to a lighter tone near the horizon. This print, alongside the Toyama Plain version from the same year, represents Hasui's sustained engagement with the winter moonlight subject in 1931.