Japanese Woodblock Print, 1952, published by Watanabe, this later edition from original blocks

SIZE IN INCHES: oban, 10.5 x 15.5 inches

COMMENTS: What makes Heirinji famous is the patch of green in which it stands, a rarity in the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo. It is the only spot where the memory of Musashino, as the area was called in the past, still survives in the form of a small forest of pine, spruce and mixed trees in the quiet temple grounds.

The fame of Heirinji’s pine forest is enhanced by the well-proportioned Sanmon gate, where the two guardian king statues seem to burst out of their confinement, and the square main hall, where in the dusk a Shaka triad can be discerned, are characteristic examples of seventeenth century Tokyo temple architecture. The rustic aspect is all the more brought home by the beautiful thatch that crowns both gateway and main hall.

KAWASE HASUI (1883-1957) was a Japanese woodblock print maker in the early 20th century. He and Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950) are widely regarded as two of the greatest artists of the shin hanga style, and are known especially for their excellent landscape prints. During the forty years of his artistic career, Hasui worked closely with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), publisher and advocate of the shin hanga movement. His works became widely known in the West through American connoisseur Robert O. Muller (1911-2003). In 1956, he was named a Living National Treasure in Japan.

Hasui worked almost exclusively on landscape and townscape prints based on sketches he made in Tokyo and during travels around Japan. However, his prints are not merely meisho (famous places) prints that are typical of earlier ukiyo-e masters such as Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The prints of Hasui feature locale that are tranquil and obscure in the then-urbanizing Japan. The dreamlike quality in his designs epitomizes a yearning for the past and a preservation of the past in the midst of rapid modernization.

Fine, no flaws