Plateau

Plateau depicts an expanse of elevated, level terrain — likely one of the upland landscapes that recur across Mabuchi's body of work. The horizontal nature of the subject suits his compositional preference for broad, simplified arrangements: long bands of color denoting ground, middle distance, and sky, with carved outlines defining where one zone meets the next. Distant mountains might appear as a row of low, rounded forms across the horizon, reduced to their essential silhouettes. The palette likely draws on the muted earth tones characteristic of his landscape prints — pale ochres for grasslands, grayed greens for vegetation, and a flat gray or pale-blue sky. As with much of his rural work, the print carries the inheritance of sosaku-hanga's commitment to direct artisanship: Mabuchi cut the blocks himself and printed each impression by hand on washi, using a baren to draw pigment into the paper. Plateau sits alongside his rice-paddy and farmhouse scenes within his contemplative engagement with the Japanese landscape.