Zaimoku Island in Matsushima

Hasui depicted Zaimoku Island in Matsushima Bay both as a standalone composition and as part of his Collected Views of Japan series. The rocky islet with its characteristic pines rising from columnar stone formations is shown in the still waters of the bay. Matsushima was a destination Hasui visited and sketched from life, as was his practice before producing the final print design. The composition features the island as a central form against sky and water, the silhouetted pines providing an iconic shorthand for the Matsushima landscape tradition. The print's technique includes bokashi for sky gradation and careful layering of blue-grey tones for the water surface, with the island forms in warm green and brown set against the cooler atmospheric background—a tonal contrast central to Hasui's rendering of coastal and island subjects.