Shizaki Kaigan, from the series One Hundred Views of New Japan (Shin Nihon hyakkei), Shôwa period, circa 1941?

Shizaki Kaigan depicts a coastal scene along what is likely the Sea of Japan or a regional shoreline associated with the Shizaki area. Published as part of the series Shin Nihon hyakkei (One Hundred Views of New Japan), which emerged during the early 1940s, the print participates in a wartime visual program that documented and celebrated Japanese geography. The kaigan — coastline — subject was a recurring motif in [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e), and this composition would characteristically feature water, rock formations, and a distant horizon rendered in layered color blocks. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations may define the sky or sea surface. The [oban](/glossary/oban) format typical of such series would have allowed Nakagawa adequate pictorial space for a panoramic coastal vista. The circa 1941 dating places the print at a moment when landscape series carried nationalistic resonance, framing the Japanese countryside as a subject of cultural pride.