A Lakeside Inn Under Moonlight
by Koho Shoda
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Description
In this oban woodblock print, a lakeside inn sits beneath a full moon whose light spills across the water in a broad, luminous column. Shoda positions the viewer at a distance from the inn, so that its lantern-lit windows glow like warm embers against the cool blue-black of the surrounding night. The composition splits between the solidity of the inn's architecture and the fluid surface of the lake, where moonlight fractures into rippling bands of silver. Shoda was drawn repeatedly to nocturnal scenes, and this print shows his ability to render darkness not as absence but as a rich, layered presence. The contrast between the inn's domestic warmth and the vast, indifferent beauty of the moonlit lake gives the image a quality of quiet contemplation.
More Prints by Koho Shoda
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Lakeside Inn Under Moonlight was created by Koho Shoda (庄田耕峰).
A Lakeside Inn Under Moonlight depicts landscapes, moonlight, and night scenes.