Late autumn - Komoro Castle

Komoro Castle in Nagano survives mainly as its stone foundations and the Sannomon gate; the keep is long gone. Hashimoto's late-autumn view therefore concentrates on what is actually there -- the massive ishigaki retaining walls and the surviving gate -- set among the deciduous trees of the castle park. A late-autumn subject gives him a specific palette: the rust-orange and ochre of momiji leaves over the dark stones, with the bare upper branches of taller trees scratching the sky. The composition likely sets a strong diagonal of stonework against the softer mass of foliage, with bokashi gradations in the sky and in the receding leaves. Hashimoto's keyblock would carry the cracks and joint lines of the masonry as carved black contours. As a sosaku-hanga work, every block was designed, cut, and printed by Hashimoto himself on washi. The print is characteristic of his preference for less-celebrated castle sites and seasonal moments over the headline keeps in their summer prime.