Tokaido Kusatsu Night Moon

Date:: 1930
Medium:: Woodblock print
Source:: Japanese Art Open Database

Typical Price

Prints from celebrated series attract premium collector interest. Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.

Common examples: $100–$500
Good impressions: $500–$3,000
Premium/scarce: $3,000–$15,000

Description

This 1930 woodblock print depicts a night scene at Kusatsu, one of the fifty-three stations along the historic Tokaido road connecting Edo (Tokyo) to Kyoto. The Tokaido has been one of the most celebrated subjects in Japanese printmaking since Hiroshige's famous series of the 1830s, and Narazaki Eisho's 20th-century interpretation updates that tradition. Kusatsu, near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, was the junction where the Tokaido met the Nakasendo, another major highway, making it a busy crossroads for travelers. The moonlit setting bathes the scene in cool, silvery light, transforming the familiar post-town landscape into something mysterious and still. Narazaki's night scene required the printer to build up deep, dark tones for the sky and shadows while preserving the luminous glow of moonlight on rooftops, water, and the road surface.