Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
This woodblock print depicts Kuwana, a historic post town on the Tokaido road where travelers crossed the waters of Ise Bay. Komori Soseki presents the settlement with the quietude typical of shin-hanga landscape work, emphasizing the town's waterfront setting and the expansive sky above. Kuwana was famous for its clam dishes and its role as a ferry point, a subject previously treated by Hiroshige in his Tokaido series. Soseki's version strips away the bustle of Hiroshige's crowds, favoring instead a contemplative stillness that reflects early Showa-era taste for lyrical, unpopulated scenery. The carved and printed textures suggest weathered wood, still water, and coastal atmosphere.
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.
Kuwana was created by Komori Soseki (小森漱石).
Kuwana depicts landscapes, seascapes, and travel scenes.
