Yellow snow

Yellow snow refers to the dust-laden snowfall that occurs in parts of Japan when seasonal winds carry loess from the Asian continent and deposit it with winter precipitation — a meteorological phenomenon long observed in the country and a subject suited to the tonal range of mokuhanga. Prints of this kind would combine the muted ochre and sulfur tones of the colored snow with the darker silhouettes of bare trees, rooftops, or telegraph poles, the contrast carried through carefully registered color blocks rather than line work. Bokashi gradation across the snow surface would suggest the uneven distribution of dust within the drifts. The subject sits at the edge of Ono's interests — neither industrial scene nor open seascape, but an observed atmospheric condition — and demonstrates the willingness within sosaku-hanga to treat phenomena outside the traditional kacho-e or meisho-e categories as legitimate print material, organized through the formal means specific to woodblock.