Artist: Kawase Hasui
Medium: Original Japanese Woodblock Print
Series Title: Rain
Edition: First State
Date: 1926
Publisher: Isetatsu Publishing Co.
Reference No.: Hotei #169
Size: 14 -3/4 x 10 -1/4 "
Condition: Mint, with superb colors
Notes:
A scarce first state, with the "association print collection" copyright in the lower margin. Between 1925 and 1927, Hasui made the decision to begin a brief partnership with the publisher Isetatsu (founded in 1864). Just five prints were completed during this period, with most designs sold in a limited supply. The coloring of these Isetatsu prints is more saturated than Haui's images produced with the S. Watanabe Color Print Co. This design was actually released together with Ito Shinsui's portrait of a woman holding a blue umbrella in the rain, entitled, "Late Autumn Rain Shower".
A bicyclist dressed in rain attire passes through the Great Gate that leads to the Zojoji Temple in Shiba. The wet pavement reflects the image of the bicyclist and the surrounding area. The wooden Daimon gate seen here in 1926 was replaced with a reinforced-concrete gate in 1937, and still stands today. Most of Zojoji Temple was converted into a public park in the Meiji period, and today the gate stands above a busy street in Minato City.