The moon goddess subject allowed Saito to work in a register somewhere between icon-painting and abstraction—the head depicted in strict frontality, the face a simplified oval with features reduced to their essential geometry, the whole composition bathed in the cold luminosity associated with lunar deities across East Asian tradition. The flatness of the woodblock medium suits the subject perfectly: a face without shadow, without volume, without mortality.
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
1919
Color woodblock print
January 1938
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Head of Moon Goddess was created by Saito Kiyoshi (斎藤清).
Head of Moon Goddess depicts moonlight, night scenes, and portraits.
