Yokohama Harbor represents Japan's gateway to the wider world, and Kasamatsu's depiction captures the port's blend of industry and natural beauty. Watanabe lifetime editions sell for $800-$2,200. Maritime and port scenes are relatively uncommon in shin-hanga, giving this print particular interest for collectors who appreciate the genre's occasional engagement with modern commercial subjects.
Yokohama Harbor spreads before the viewer — the great port where Japan's modern commercial engagement with the world had begun in 1859 — its anchorage filled with vessels and its waterfront developed into one of Asia's major trading ports. Kasamatsu's Yokohama Harbor print documents the city that modernization had created almost from nothing, where foreign merchant houses, Western-style buildings, and international shipping coexisted with Japanese commercial traditions. The harbor's characteristic mix of domestic and foreign vessels gave the composition a specifically modern and international character.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Yokohama Harbor was created by Shiro Kasamatsu (笠松紫浪).
Yokohama Harbor uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.
Yokohama Harbor was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Yokohama Harbor depicts landscapes and seascapes, set at Yokohama.
