One year of Izu in pictures and poetry

A portfolio combining prints with accompanying verse depicting the Izu peninsula across the seasons. Image-and-text collaborations have a long history in Japanese printmaking, from haiga ink-painting traditions to nineteenth-century [surimono](/glossary/surimono) exchanging poetry between literary circles. Hiratsuka's contribution consists of a sequence of mokuhanga keyed to particular months or scenes — coastal villages, Mount Amagi, hot spring towns, fishing harbors — paired with text printed by letterpress or brushed in calligraphy by a collaborating poet. The bookwork format allowed [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) artists to reach readers through publishers' editions while supplementing their small-edition individual prints. Izu, the rugged peninsula southwest of Tokyo extending into Sagami Bay, has carried literary associations since Kawabata Yasunari's 1926 novella The Izu Dancer; framing the place through a year's seasonal cycle draws on this regional identity while extending Hiratsuka's habit of approaching landscape through serial composition.