An Autumn Day (2)(736)

A woodblock composition designated as the second in a series, this print likely captures a rural scene transformed by autumn color. The (2) marker suggests a continuation of a motif explored in an earlier impression, with the artist returning to refine the composition. Autumn subjects in mokuhanga traditionally exploit [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradient printing to render the soft transitions between foliage and sky, with overprinting from successive blocks building up the dense reds and ochres of maple or gingko leaves. Tanaka's broader body of work centered on the quiet Japanese countryside — thatched-roof minka, stone walls, and sunken lanes — and an autumn study fits squarely within this vocabulary of seasonal observation. The compositional restraint typical of his approach would emphasize empty ground and atmospheric stillness over dramatic incident, treating the changing leaves as a quiet marker of time. Such prints align with the postwar shosaku-hanga sensibility, in which traditional woodblock technique was used to record a rural Japan steadily disappearing from view.