Yakedake in Kamikôchi

Maekawa Senpan (1888–1960) was a leading figure of the sōsaku-hanga movement, and his landscapes of Japan's alpine regions reflect direct observation and autonomous artistic expression. Yakedake is an active stratovolcano rising to 2,455 meters in the Hida Mountains of Nagano Prefecture, its summit marked by steam vents that give the peak its name — "burning mountain." In the Kamikōchi valley, the volcano forms a dramatic backdrop to the Azusa River wetlands and stands of Siebold's beech. Senpan's treatment of the subject likely employs the simplified, structurally bold forms favored by sōsaku-hanga printmakers: flattened mountain silhouettes, areas of unmodulated color, and textural passages created by the artist's own cutting rather than a specialist carver's hand. As his own carver and printer, Senpan retained full control over surface quality and tonal relationships, distinguishing his alpine prints from the more polished finish of shin-hanga landscape conventions.