Sakunami onsen

Sakunami Onsen lies in the mountains west of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture, a hot spring known for its riverside ryokan along the Hirose River gorge. Kasamatsu's print most likely depicts wooden inn buildings set against forested slopes, with the river running through the foreground and bokashi gradations rendering mist or steam rising from the water. The Tohoku setting links the design to a subject region that Hasui, his fellow Kiyokata pupil, had made central to shin-hanga landscape; Kasamatsu's treatments tend to be more intimate in scale and quieter in tone. Soft greens and grays dominate, with sumi key blocks defining tile roofs and tree trunks. Like his other onsen subjects, the print belongs to the Unsodo-period work in which Kasamatsu chose provincial spa towns over famous metropolitan landmarks, producing landscapes for an audience interested in the older, slower Japan of regional travel.