Empty Day (Kukyo naru hi)

Printed in 1957 as edition 21 of 50, this color woodblock renders the concept of an empty day through Masaji's abstract visual language. The Japanese subtitle "Kukyo naru hi" deepens the English title, as kukyo carries connotations of void, desolation, and ultimate emptiness drawn from Buddhist philosophy. The relatively large edition of fifty impressions indicates that Masaji intended this work for wider distribution than some of his more limited prints. The 1957 date places it in the middle of a remarkably productive decade during which Masaji established his mature abstract vocabulary. Each impression in the edition was hand-pulled by the artist himself, meaning that the labor of producing fifty individually printed sheets represented weeks of sustained physical work at the printing table.