Hozu Rapids in Early Summer

The Hozu River gorge northwest of Kyoto is famous for its whitewater rapids, where the river cuts through steep forested hillsides before reaching the calmer stretch at Arashiyama. Suizan depicts the early summer landscape when fresh green foliage covers the valley walls and the river runs high with snowmelt from the Tanba highlands. Churning water, carved and printed as interlocking blue-white patterns, fills the lower portion of the composition while the green hillsides rise steeply on either side. The Hozu rapids have been a tourist attraction since the Edo period, when timber-laden boats navigated the treacherous current, and pleasure boats later carried sightseers through the gorge. Suizan's print captures the kinetic energy of moving water against the stable mass of the mountains, a dynamic contrast that the sequential color printing of woodblock technique renders with particular clarity.