Label on verso, lower right: Bai VI 11. On recto, lower ede, in pencil: Sumidagawa River, Kaitsu 1934. On mat in pencil: Bai VI 2, title, Koitsu. Signed: Koitsu. Artist's seal: Shin. Printer: Goto. Carver: Katsumura.

Colored ink on paper; woodblock print.

Color woodblock print in a modern Japanese style, with an image of a landscape in a snow storm. With the rapid industrialization of Japan in the late 19th and 20th centuries, both sides of the Sumida River were quickly crowded with factories, refineries and shipping facilities. Only a few small spots, like the Shinto Shrine at Suijin, preserved the natural beauty of the old riverbanks. In this highly nostalgic view, published in the mid 1930's when Japan was attacking China and rapidly expanding its military industrial complex, Koitsu focuses on the "old Japan" of sailing boats and women clad in kimono, but reluctantly acknowledges the increasing presence of "modern life" on the far side of the Sumida River. Prints like these were not only popular with the Pre-World War II Japanese public but also with the post-war G.I., who similarly sought the more innocent Japan of the past.

Doi Sadaichi seal.

This object has the following keywords:

• Lakes and Rivers
• Showa Period

This object is a member of the following portfolios: