Deshima (Twelve Views of Nagasaki)

One sheet from Yumeji's Nagasaki Jūni-kei series, this print depicts Deshima, the fan-shaped artificial island in Nagasaki harbor where Dutch merchants were confined during Japan's period of national seclusion. As a meisho-e subject, Deshima carried particular historical weight — the sole sanctioned point of Western contact for over two centuries — and Yumeji's treatment would have engaged that layered identity. His Nagasaki landscapes characteristically soften topographical precision in favor of atmospheric mood, often employing gentle bokashi gradations in the sky and water to evoke the harbor's hazy, liminal quality. The series reflects Yumeji's own deep interest in Nagasaki as a site where Japanese, Dutch, and Chinese cultures intersected, a sensibility that aligned with his broader absorption of Western aesthetic influences. Printed on washi in the oban format typical of the series, the composition likely emphasizes the island's geometric form against the surrounding water, rendered with the restrained, lyrical line quality that distinguishes his graphic work from his bijin-ga paintings.