Twilight Snow (Bosetsu), from an unidentified series of Eight Views (Hakkei)

Twilight Snow (Bosetsu), from an unidentified series of Eight Views (Hakkei), is a contemporary reworking of one of the eight classical landscape themes by the Edo [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) designer Kitao Masanobu (1761–1816). The Eight Views format originated in Chinese landscape painting and was adapted into Japanese poetry and ukiyo-e under such titles as Omi hakkei (Eight Views of Lake Biwa) and Sumidagawa hakkei (Eight Views of the Sumida River). Twilight Snow — bosetsu, snow at dusk — was the winter scene in the set, traditionally associated with quiet whiteness, hushed atmosphere, and reflective melancholy.