Poetry of the Katsura river I

The Katsura River runs along the western edge of Kyoto, flowing through Arashiyama before turning south. The title's invocation of poetry draws on deep literary associations: the river appears in Heian-period waka, and the nearby Katsura Imperial Villa is among Japan's most architecturally significant estates. The designation "I" indicates the first in a numbered series — a structure Hashimoto employed elsewhere to explore a subject across compositional variations and seasonal or atmospheric conditions. The composition likely renders the river's surface through [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation, ink running from dark to light across the water plane, alongside riverside vegetation or distant hills. The literary subtitle suggests Hashimoto conceived the work as more than topographical documentation, aligning it with the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) ideal of expressive interpretation. The series format allowed him to pursue a single subject with the iterative commitment that distinguished his printmaking practice.