Hasui 巴水: Momoura, Ibaraki Prefecture

Artist: Kawase Hasui 巴水Title: Momoura, Ibaraki PrefectureDate: 1948 A farmhouse is cozily nestled between the fields and the lake (or river), three birds in the sky and no humans in sight. The late afternoon sun reflects a lovely color on the thatched roof and bright purple clouds levitate near the horizon. The light green on the branches of the bare tree indicate that this might be a springtime view, and the grass glows a very bright green. In regards to this specific location, in Ibaraki Prefecture, there is Laka Kasumigaura, the second largest lake in Japan. The Tone River also runs through it. Hasui often used place names that were local or colloquial, and this can make pinpointing a location on today’s maps a challenge. There is a place called Momoura, but that is near Ishinomaki, far away from Ibaraki, which is not far from Tokyo. According to the late scholar Hisao Shimizu (personal communication), works that were sealed with “Ono Gintaro” generally have a very high printing qua