Sea: Evening Calm, Shôwa period, dated 1964

Titled Sea: Evening Calm and dated 1964 in the Showa period, this woodblock print captures the ocean at the day's quietest moment, when fading light and diminishing wind combine to flatten the water surface into a broad mirror. The evening calm, known to sailors as the period when thermal convection weakens and offshore breezes die, produces a distinctive visual effect: the sea becomes almost glassy, reflecting the sky's sunset colors with minimal distortion. Iwami, working in the mid-1960s when her abstract visual language was still crystallizing, renders this tranquil marine condition with a restraint that matches the subject. The 1964 date places this print early in her mature career, when she was establishing the seascape vocabulary that would sustain decades of further exploration. The evening setting adds warmth to the palette and a sense of closure to the composition.