Komagatake, Hakone

Komagatake is the central peak of the Hakone volcanic complex, rising to 1,356 meters above the caldera that holds Lake Ashi. Sasajima's treatment of mountain subjects, relatively uncommon in a body of work dominated by Buddhist architecture, applies the same formal economy he brought to temple gates and pagodas: the mountain is likely rendered as a simplified silhouette, its mass defined by the contrast between printed and unprinted areas of washi rather than by elaborate shading. The Hakone range's frequent mist and cloud cover would have provided Sasajima with atmospheric conditions analogous to the overcast light he favored in his architectural work. Graduated bokashi may describe the mountain's middle slopes or the low clouds that often obscure the summit. As a sosaku-hanga artist trained under Onchi Kōshirō, Sasajima carved each block himself, and the print's gestural mark-making would reflect the direct physical negotiation between artist and woodblock surface.