Mt Unzen

Mount Unzen is a volcanic group in Nagasaki Prefecture, comprising several peaks of which Fugen-dake and Heisei-shinzan are the most prominent. The mountain has long been a meisho (famous place) subject, associated with hot springs at Unzen Onsen and, historically, with the seventeenth-century persecution of Christians who were thrown into its boiling jigoku springs. The print likely depicts the Unzen massif rising over foreground forest, lake, or village rooftops. Mountain subjects in mokuhanga rely on [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation in the sky and across the slopes to suggest atmospheric distance and volcanic vapors — the medium handles such soft transitions through wet-block printing, in which the printer wipes pigment across the wood with a moist cloth before pressing the [washi](/glossary/washi) with a [baren](/glossary/baren). Within Tagawa Ken's body of Nagasaki Prefecture subjects, Mt Unzen represents the natural-landscape counterpart to the architectural prints of castles, bridges, and churches, completing a survey of the region's most identifiable visual landmarks.