Spring in the Countryside

Moving beyond Kyoto's urban precincts, this oban woodblock print presents the countryside in spring, when rice paddies are being prepared for planting and the surrounding hills wear a fresh coat of green. Tatsuo Kawashima's rural landscape likely includes elements characteristic of the Kyoto countryside: thatched or tiled farmhouses, bamboo groves, narrow streams, and the layered ridgelines of hills receding into the distance. The countryside in spring has a particular quality of openness, since deciduous trees have not yet fully leafed out and the low-growing crops are still young, allowing long views across the terrain. Kawashima renders this openness through the woodblock technique of using lighter, more transparent colors in the background and stronger tones in the foreground, creating atmospheric perspective that draws the eye deep into the composition.