Hazy moon in spring

Hazy moon in spring — oborozuki being the classical seasonal trope of the moon veiled by spring mist — sets a bijin against the atmospheric backdrop of a hazy nocturnal sky. The subject draws on a literary tradition stretching back to Heian poetry, and the print likely shows a woman in spring kimono, perhaps glancing from a verandah, the moon rendered as a pale disc behind washes of grey-blue bokashi. Kotondo's moonlit and seasonal compositions stand somewhat apart from his more typical interior bijin-ga, foregrounding mood over the close observation of the toilette. The technique requires extended use of bokashi gradation, with the printer working multiple wet impressions across the sky block to achieve the diffuse luminosity that distinguishes the design. Within shin-hanga, atmospheric bijin-ga of this kind owe much to Kaburagi Kiyokata's nihonga teaching and to the parallel example of Ito Shinsui. The print situates Kotondo within the lyrical, seasonally-keyed branch of his small but tightly curated body of work.