The Floating World

Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tōkyō nijukkei)

Moon at Magome

馬込の月 · Magome no tsuki

Kawase Hasui · 1930

What it is

A full moon rises behind a great pine at the edge of Magome, the sky graded from dusk to night — Hasui at the very close of the collection’s era, 1930.

Why it matters

Hasui made night itself a printable color. Sheets like this taught the West that the woodblock could hold atmosphere as surely as oil paint — and did it with water, paper, and a printer’s bare hands.

What to notice

The sky is one continuous hand-wiped gradation top to bottom; the pine’s needles are cut into the keyblock fine enough to read individually against the moon.

“The moon has no line around it. It is simply where the night was left out.”

The record

Artist
Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水 (1883–1957)
Series
Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tōkyō nijukkei)
Date
1930
Publisher
Watanabe Shōzaburō
Medium
woodblock print; ink and color on paper
Source
Wikimedia Commons · NDL-DC 2586549-31 Kawase Hasui S05 crd.jpg
  • bokashi

Impression note. A night print is a printer’s print: the twilight blues are graded by hand across the whole sheet, and the moon is held as a clean reserved disc. Impressions vary most in the evenness of the sky’s bokashi and the darkness of the pine against it. Impression variance is real — printings differ in wiping and fading — and choosing the finest openly held impression is the curatorial act.

Public domain; faithfully reproduced.

Bring it home

Printed to order on EMA matte art paper, 200gsm.

From the same series

Woman at the Bath — Hashiguchi GoyōHashiguchi GoyōWoman at the BathHashiguchi Goyō · 1915 · from $69.00Woman Combing Her Hair — Hashiguchi GoyōHashiguchi GoyōWoman Combing Her HairHashiguchi Goyō · 1920Kameido Bridge — Yoshida HiroshiYoshida HiroshiKameido BridgeYoshida Hiroshi · 1927Kagurazaka Street after a Night Rain — Yoshida HiroshiYoshida HiroshiKagurazaka Street after a Night RainYoshida Hiroshi · 1929

The road at your moment — Painted Earth’s ukiyo-e style pack.