Kawase Hasui – Shiba Benten Pond (Hasui Kawase – Shiba Benten ike)

Original woodblock print. The first edition of this design was published in 1929. The current print was printed in the Reiwa period (2019 – present).

This print by Kawase Hasui depicts the Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park, Tokyo, home of the Benten temple. The pond is divided into three separate ponds, with the Lotus pond that is depicted here perhaps being the most remarkable. The print seems to show the pond in the height of summer, as it is at that time that the Lotus pond is fully covered by blossoming Lotus plants. In the middle are two women, seemingly enjoying the beautify of the sight as well.

Somewhere in the 1950s the original woodblocks used to make this print were obtained by publisher Shobisha, who used them again recently to print a new edition, of excellent quality as usual.

This Kawase Hasui print is part of a group of designs he first made around 1930 for the publisher cooperation Sakai-Kawaguchi. The woodblocks were destroyed during the war however, and after the war the rights for the design were transferred to publisher Shobisha, who has republished the designs from the 1950s onward with newly carved blocks. Kawase Hasui was involved in this process and the prints are originals, but the listing of the date of the first edition could be debated. Within the woodblock print community the years of the initial designs are used and that is followed here.

Image size (excluding margins): 23.8 * 36.5 cm (9.4 * 14.4 in).

The print is in excellent condition.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

See an overview of Kawase Hasui's woodblock prints