Yanagawa Chikugo Province

Yanagawa, in Fukuoka Prefecture in the area historically known as Chikugo Province, is a castle town renowned for its network of irrigation canals (horikiri) threading through the residential districts. The canals, originally built to supply water to the castle moat and surrounding farmland, became the defining feature of the townscape, with willow trees lining many of the waterways—a connection reflected in the town's name. Hasui's composition likely depicts a canal passage framed by willows, with traditional wooden architecture along the banks and a flat-bottomed donkobune boat characteristic of local transport. The horizontal lines of water surface, bank, and low-slung buildings give the composition a quietude distinct from Hasui's mountain or coastal subjects. The Chikugo Province designation anchors the print within the historical geography his regional survey series routinely employed.