Shotei produced a wide range of subjects throughout his career under publishers Watanabe and Daikokuya. Signed, sealed lifetime editions consistently outperform unsigned export-market copies.
Rain falls on the village of Igusa in what is now the Suginami district of western Tokyo — a rural area that was absorbed into the expanding city during the early twentieth century. Shotei renders the village under summer or autumn rain, the wooden farmhouses and their surrounding trees darkened by the precipitation while the lane between them glistens. The village-in-rain subject was central to Shotei's documentation of the traditional Japan disappearing beneath urban expansion, each image a record of a specific place before it was transformed.
1962
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
c. 1833-36
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Ame no Omiya
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Village in the Rain- Igusa was created by Takahashi Shotei (高橋松亭).
Village in the Rain- Igusa uses Bokashi, on woodblock print.
Village in the Rain- Igusa was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Village in the Rain- Igusa depicts rain and village scenes.
