Early Summer

The transition from spring to summer arrives in this 1958 stencil print, where warmth and lengthening daylight transform the landscape. Nagase uses the katazome-influenced stencil technique rather than carved woodblocks, producing areas of flat color with crisp edges defined by cut paper or card stencils. The stencil method yields a different visual quality than woodblock: smoother color fields, sharper boundaries, and a graphic clarity that suits the bright, unambiguous light of early summer. The season's character, that moment when the air first carries real heat and vegetation reaches full density, is conveyed through palette and compositional openness rather than specific botanical or topographic detail.