Hazy Moon at Ushimachi, Takanawa

This print depicting a hazy moon over Ushimachi in the Takanawa district represents Kiyochika's meisho-e treatment of a Tokyo waterfront site during the rapid modernization of the Meiji period. The Takanawa area, situated along the southwestern shore of Tokyo Bay, was a transitional zone in the 1870s and 1880s — historically associated with the outer edges of Edo's urban fabric and increasingly adjacent to new railroad infrastructure and foreign-style buildings. Kiyochika's choice to record the site under a veiled moon rather than in daylight is characteristic of his preference for liminal atmospheric conditions — dusk, night, rain, and fog — that allowed him to explore tonal gradation and the diffusion of light through atmosphere. The composition likely places the viewer at low elevation near the water's edge, with the moon's refracted glow creating a pale luminosity across the bay. Compared to the 1879 dated version, this print may represent a variant impression or a related sheet from the same series, with minor compositional or color differences distinguishing the two.