Full Moon at Akashi Beach
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
- Image courtesy of
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
Akashi Bay in Harima Province (modern Hyogo Prefecture) was a canonical meisho associated with moonlight and the Genji monogatari, where the Akashi coast appears in one of the tale's pivotal episodes. Kiyochika's treatment likely presents the full moon reflected in the calm bay, with fishing boats or pine silhouettes providing compositional framing. His moon effects were technically demanding, requiring precise registration and carefully modulated bokashi to create the luminous disk and its reflected path across water. The atmospheric night scene was a signature subject for Kiyochika, and his handling of moonlit coastal views draws on Western chiaroscuro principles applied through traditional multi-block woodblock technique.
More Prints by Kobayashi Kiyochika
More Night Scenes Prints
Evening in East Africa
Woodblock print
Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Frequently Asked Questions
Full Moon at Akashi Beach was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).
Full Moon at Akashi Beach depicts night scenes.