Evening Scene of Cherry Blossoms Viewing

Beneath low double-flowered cherry trees, rows of paper lanterns glow, and a scarlet felt carpet is spread in the foreground as the banquet is in full swing. Some people lie drunk, while in the middle a man in casual dress and a woman in everyday clothes stroll about. Although the scene is lively, there is no hint of music, and the faces are painted with the restrained expressions of masks. At the lower right is the signature "Kagaku ga" and a red seal.

Kagaku is said to have remarked, "It's the night cherry blossoms of Hirano," and the work is based on the night cherries of Hirano Shrine, a famous cherry-blossom spot in Kyoto. It was originally a framed work of silk three shaku wide joined at the center, but it has now been mounted as a two-panel single screen. It was shown at the National Fine Arts and Crafts Exposition in 1914 under the title Hirano.

Kagaku was born in Osaka and was familiar with ningyo joruri puppet theater from a young age. This taste shows in his way of painting figures, which recalls the world of ukiyo-e. This is a work from just after he completed the postgraduate course at the Kyoto City Specialist School of Painting, and Kagaku later founded the Kokuga Sosaku Kyokai with Tsuchida Bakusen and others. The work is held by the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.