To the morning light

This second impression bearing the same title points to a variant — likely a different state of the print, an alternate color scheme, or a closely related composition published as a pair with the previous image. Multiple impressions and reissues are common in Yumeji's printmaking, as his publishers reprinted popular designs across years and sometimes adjusted color blocks between editions. The mokuhanga technique would be identical in principle: keyblock outline registered against successive color blocks on washi, with bokashi gradation supplying the dawn sky. The existence of a near-twin print under the same title also reflects Yumeji's tendency to return to favored subjects — figures at thresholds, women at windows, travelers on roads — and to rework the same emotional register across multiple compositions. Comparative viewing of the two impressions reveals the small variations in color and registration that distinguish individual pulls in the mokuhanga tradition.