Miyajima

Miyajima — the popular name for Itsukushima — denotes the sacred island in Hiroshima Bay known for the vermillion torii of Itsukushima Shrine rising from the tideline. As a meisho-e subject, Miyajima had been treated by Hiroshige and others, and Koson's print joins the smaller group of landscape works he produced alongside his dominant kacho-e output. The composition likely centers the torii against the inland sea, with bokashi gradations across water and sky establishing depth and time of day. Warm vermillion in the gate is set against the blue-greens of the bay, exploiting the chromatic contrast achievable in mokuhanga. The print reflects the late-Meiji and Taisho appetite among foreign collectors for recognizably scenic Japan, and shows Koson working in a register more often associated with the shin-hanga landscape artists Kawase Hasui and Hiroshi Yoshida.