Moon at Hirosawa

Hirosawa Pond, in the Saga district of western Kyoto, has been celebrated for moon-viewing since the Heian period and appears in classical waka poetry as one of the recognized tsukimi sites. This print almost certainly shows the moon reflected on the pond's still water, with the low silhouette of the surrounding hills and perhaps a stand of pines or a reed bank in the foreground. Night and moonlight subjects in mokuhanga rely on dark indigo and grey grounds printed in successive impressions, with the moon and its reflection held as reserved circles of unprinted [washi](/glossary/washi) or printed in a paler mineral pigment. Subtle [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) across the water carries the sense of stillness. Moonlight subjects sit alongside snow and rain in Nomura's recorded output, all of which share a reliance on tonal modulation rather than bright color. The print also connects his work to the long [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) interest in classical poetic sites updated for an early-twentieth-century audience.