Among Kasamatsu's most iconic compositions, Misty Evening At Shinobazu Pond epitomizes the poetic atmosphere of his finest Watanabe-era work. Later lifetime editions sell for $1,500-$3,000, but pre-earthquake first impressions are genuinely rare and can reach $4,000-$8,000. The ethereal mist rising from the pond required virtuoso bokashi printing that is immediately apparent in early impressions.
Mist settles over Shinobazu Pond in Ueno at evening, the outlines of the Bentendo shrine and surrounding trees dissolving into atmospheric haze while the water surface darkens. Kasamatsu's multiple treatments of this subject explore how the same landscape transforms across different conditions of light and atmosphere. This version focuses on the pond's characteristic early-evening mist, when the water-saturated air creates a zone of indistinction between pond and sky that his printmaking technique renders through careful [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation.
Nikko Chuzenjiko
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Misty Evening at Shinobazu Pond was created by Shiro Kasamatsu (笠松紫浪).
Misty Evening at Shinobazu Pond uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.
Misty Evening at Shinobazu Pond was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Misty Evening at Shinobazu Pond depicts rivers & lakes and night scenes, set at Tokyo, Shinobazu Pond.
