Banyu River

Description

The Banyu River denotes the lowest stretch of the Sagami River, ending at the Pacific Ocean in today's Kanagawa. As such, the Tokaido road crossed it, between its 6th and 7th stations, resulting in the Banyu River being depicted often by woodblock print artists, most notably in Hiroshige's series depicting the Tokaido. His prints show the location full of activity, for instance with multiple ferries full of travelers and goods crossing the river. By the time Kawase Hasui depicted the location, crossing had become possible via a bridge, and Hasui shows only one boater transporting a single passenger, forming a faint echo of the location's past. The similarity of the composition with the designs of Hiroshige is striking, and the British Museum selected the design for its 2025 Hiroshige exhibition in its "Onwards from Hiroshige" section. The catalogue notes that Hasui is "[w]idely regarded as Hiroshige's main successor in the modern period". The present print is one in which Hasui approaches his predecessor very closely. Ironically, whereas Hasui often had to diminish the role of modernity and human activity in his scenes to be able to capture the beauty and tranquility of a disappearing traditional world, here it was that same modernity, in the form of a railroad bridge, that made the scene even calmer than before. The busy ferry site has given way to an almost desolate river landscape in the foreground, but still beneath an unchanged clouded Mount Fuji. The design has two variants, one more brightly colored, and the present one, less brightly colored. It has also been printed posthumously, but lifetime impressions such as the present print are relatively rare.