Mirror II 1989

Dated 1989, Mirror II is the second in a paired or ongoing sequence sharing the Mirror title, the first dated 1987. The subject likely concerns reflection, symmetry, or the doubling of forms — themes that have a long lineage in Japanese visual culture, where the polished bronze mirror (kagami) carries Shinto associations and the printed surface itself functions as a kind of inverted impression. In mokuhanga, mirrored compositions can be achieved through the mechanical reversal inherent to the printing process or through deliberate registration of paired blocks. The two-year gap between Mirror I and Mirror II indicates a sustained interest in the motif, characteristic of postwar [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) artists who returned repeatedly to single themes across editions. The 1989 date situates the work at the end of the Showa era, a period in which abstract and semi-abstract mokuhanga had become a well-established mode within the Japanese print exhibition (hangaten) circuit.