Evening Snow at Kiyamachi

Description

Kotozuka Eiichi was very accomplished in making snow scenes, and the current design is probably his best one. It depicts the Kiyamachi Dori in the old center of Kyoto, along with the canalized Takase River. It is near Ponto-cho, the district known for geisha and maiko. Indeed, in the print two maiko can be seen walking through the snow, next to lanterns and tea houses. In front, two willow trees are visible, often compared to Geisha because of their grace and strength. The current print is a small version of the design, however, and it is unclear by whom it was published. It is clearly, at the very least, inspired by Eiichi Kotozuka's design, but might be a knock-off. The blocks were not aligned correctly during printing, whereas normally Eiichi Kotozuka prints are of high quality.