Lake Haruna

Haruna-ko is a caldera lake in Gunma Prefecture, encircled by Mount Haruna and a ring of secondary peaks. As a [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) subject, the lake appeared in Japanese prints during the Edo period and was revisited by twentieth-century printmakers including Kawase Hasui, who produced views of its shores in different seasons. Compositions of Lake Haruna commonly arrange the still water in the foreground, a fringe of shoreline trees in the middle ground, and the silhouette of the surrounding mountains beyond, with reflection used as a structural device. Mokuhanga renders such scenes through layered color blocks, with [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradients carrying the transition from water to sky and from foliage into distance. Maeda Toshiro's treatment of the lake places him among mid-twentieth-century printmakers who continued to address established meisho subjects after the [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) era. Without firm dates or publisher information, the print is best read as part of his engagement with named Japanese landscapes alongside other site-specific works in his oeuvre.