Snow at Mukojima (Heisei)

Description

Mukojima is known these days as one of the quieter neighborhoods just outside of the most central part of Tokyo, perhaps retaining some of the atmosphere present in Kawase Hasui's print. Here, only a few people are visible, boating on the wide Sumida River. Heavy snow is falling and has already covered the riverbanks fully, leading to a quieter and more uniformly beautiful world, possibly making Kawase Hasui's compositional work slightly easier. One part of his work was much harder than it appears here, however, and that was the depiction of the falling snow. It took many years and attempts to start to capture snow perfectly. One of the crucial elements for success was the depiction of heavy snow bound in clusters falling and whirling down, instead of spreading the depicted snowflakes uniformly across the sky. Like the mastery of the depiction of heavy rain by 19th-century woodblock artists such as Hiroshige, once the technique was fully established, many others copied it, enriching the Shin-hanga movement in its entirety.