Mt. Myogi-san

Mt. Myōgi in Gunma Prefecture is known for its serrated volcanic pinnacles and weathered rock spires, a subject quite different from the gently rounded peaks favored by earlier [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) landscape designers. Maeda's treatment of the mountain pushes toward the angular, faceted block-cutting that became a signature of his [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) work — the carved edges of the rock formations are allowed to read as carved edges rather than being dissolved into atmospheric softness. A mokuhanga print of this scale typically required separate blocks for each major color area, and the irregular silhouette of Myōgi gives the design an asymmetric tension that suits Maeda's compositional preferences. Working from his Hokkaido sensibility for stark, structural landscape, Maeda treats the central Honshu peak as an exercise in mass and shadow rather than seasonal mood. The print belongs to the strand of his career in which he carved and printed his own blocks, distinct from the collaborative shin-hanga commissions he also accepted, and shows the artist's willingness to register a mountain as geological fact rather than poetic emblem.