Yuzu and Persimmon

Yuzu and Persimmon is a Japanese woodblock print by Toru Mabuchi catalogued through ukiyo-e.org from a Japanese Art Open Database record. The subject brings together two fruits closely associated with the Japanese autumn and early winter calendar, with yuzu, a fragrant citrus, traditionally used at the winter solstice and persimmons among the most iconic autumn fruits in Japanese visual culture. By placing them side by side, Mabuchi anchors the still life in a recognizable seasonal moment while letting the rounded forms and warm tones of the fruit carry the composition. As with his other still lifes, the print is a product of sosaku-hanga practice, in which Mabuchi designed, carved, and printed the blocks himself. That self-directed workflow gives the print its distinct surface, where carefully placed color planes meet the subtle texture of the woodblock and the deliberate cut of the contour lines. The composition's reduced palette and clear, design-conscious shapes are consistent with the broader still-life vocabulary Mabuchi developed across his career. Yuzu and Persimmon takes its place among Mabuchi's many seasonal images and connects to a long Japanese tradition of pairing specific fruits with particular moments in the year. Its record in the Japanese Art Open Database, aggregated through ukiyo-e.org, supports research into postwar Japanese woodblock still life and into Mabuchi's particular contribution to that genre.