Hama-cho Riverbank

Description

A quiet morning with a boat sailing out from Hamamachi. As in a few other prints by Kawase Hasui it is clear that the scene is depicted in modern times, with not just a wagon but also a car standing on the quay beneath telephone poles. Still the scene radiates calmness and quietness, with only a few people around as the sun announces the start of a new day. This print by Kawase Hasui is part of a group of designs he first made around 1930 for the publishing partnership Sakai-Kawaguchi. The woodblocks were destroyed during the war, and after the war the rights to the designs were transferred to the publisher Shobisha. With the involvement of Kawase Hasui, new woodblocks were carved for the designs in the 1950s, and Shobisha has published them from the 1950s onward to the present day. Listing the date of the first edition in the 1950s might be more accurate, but within the woodblock print community and literature the years of the initial designs are commonly used.