Little Girl with rice bunny

This print depicts a young girl with a usagi-shaped rice cake — a small mochi or dango formed in the shape of a rabbit, a confection associated with seasonal observances and children's snacks in early-twentieth-century Japan. Genre subjects of children, rendered in a tender, observational mode, recur across Onchi's output and reflect his sustained interest in domestic and intimate moments alongside his more publicly known abstract work. Prints of this kind tend toward simplified planes, soft outlines, and restrained color — frequently relying on bokashi gradations or selectively printed woodgrain to suggest atmosphere rather than detail. Working entirely by his own hand in the sosaku-hanga method, Onchi cut the blocks, mixed the inks, and rubbed each impression with the baren himself, adapting his expressive vocabulary to a quieter subject. The child and her confection become a small portrait of mood and memory rather than a descriptive scene.