Tsuta Hot Spring, Mutsu (Souvenirs of Travel I)

The entire picture is covered in the colors of night, sinking from blue-green into black. At the center a large-roofed inn stands like a shadow, with only two windows lit in yellow. Behind the inn, forest trees rise as black masses, and fine lines of rain are printed across the whole picture. In the foreground spreads what looks like a stream or damp grassland, and the title "Mutsu ... Tsuta Hot Spring" is at the lower left, with the date, signature, and seal at the lower right.

This work dates from 1919 (Taisho 8), and Hasui is said to have visited Tohoku that year and sketched Lake Towada and Tsuta Hot Spring. "Souvenirs of Travel I" also includes designs of nearby Tsuta Pond and the Senjomaku cliffs at Lake Towada. Conveying the presence of the inn through only light and rain, without any figures, this print is regarded as one that shows well the strength of Hasui, who would later be called the "printmaker of travel sentiment."

Expressing weather and time of day, such as night, rain, and snow, is a great appeal of Hasui's landscape prints. In this work he renders the lines of rain through carving and printing, so that even the damp air can be felt.

The Tokyo National Museum and The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo own this print, and abroad the Brooklyn Museum and others also hold the same design.