Blue Iris

Blue iris (kakitsubata or ayame) ranked among the canonical flower subjects of Japanese printmaking, associated with early summer and with celebrated pond gardens such as those at Heian Jingu in Kyoto — a site Kotozuka depicted repeatedly. This [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) print would present the upright sword-shaped leaves and violet-blue blossoms against a wet, atmospheric ground, exploiting the woodblock medium's ability to render the translucency of petals through overlapping pale ink passages. The specific blue pigment — likely a synthetic Prussian blue blended with softer tones — would have required careful overprinting to build the flower's distinctive hue without muddying the color. The composition likely isolates a cluster of blooms in shallow depth of field, consistent with Kotozuka's botanical precision.