Kawase Hasui

Career & Biography

Identity

Gender

Male

Full Name

Kawase Hasui (川瀬 巴水)

Birth Date

May 18, 1883

Birth Name

Hasui Bunjiro

Death Date

November 7, 1957

Nationality

Japanese

Active Years

1918–1957 (approx. 40-year career)

Birth Location

Shiba district, Tokyo, Japan

Death Location

Tokyo, Japan

Career Timeline

1883

Born in Shiba, Tokyo as Hasui Bunjiro; uncle was prominent author/journalist Kanagaki Robun (1829–1894)

1918

First three experimental woodblock prints published by Watanabe Shōzaburō in August 1918; launched formal printmaking career

1922

Began twelve-print 'Collection of Scenes of Japan'

1923

Great Kantō earthquake destroyed Watanabe's workshop, including finished woodblocks and Hasui's 188 sketchbooks; a devastating setback from which the collaboration rebuilt

1925

Published 'Twenty Views of Tokyo' series including the iconic 'Zojo Temple, Shiba' (Zōjōji in snow)

1953

Commissioned by the Japanese government to create 'Snow at Zojoji Temple,' designated an Intangible Cultural Treasure

1956

Named a Japanese Living National Treasure — a distinction rarely granted to print artists

1957

Died November 7 in Tokyo; left a body of nearly 1,000 woodblock prints plus watercolors, oil paintings, hanging scrolls, and folding screens

Pre 1909

Family expected him to manage the family rope and thread wholesale business; bankruptcy of family business at age 26 freed him to pursue art

Mid 1930s

Considered the leading landscape printmaker in the United States at the height of shin-hanga's American popularity

1918–1923

Created more than 100 landscape designs for Watanabe; prints exported heavily to the United States where they found enthusiastic audiences

1919–1929

Published three-volume series 'Souvenirs of Travel' (Tabi miyage, Vol. I 1919–1920, Vol. II 1921, Vol. III 1924–1929)

1923 Onward

Travelled the Hokuriku, San'in, and San'yō regions to rebuild his visual archive; resumed prolific output

C.1909–1915

Studied Western-style painting with Okada Saburōsuke; then accepted as student by Kiyokata Kaburagi

Education and Training

Early Studies

Sketched from nature and copied ukiyo-e masters from youth; studied brush painting with Araki Kanyu

Western Painting

Studied yōga (Western-style painting) including watercolor and oil painting under Okada Saburōsuke for approximately two years — foundational for painterly atmospheric qualities in later prints

Japanese Painting

Studied nihonga (Japanese-style painting) under Kiyokata Kaburagi; Kaburagi bestowed the artist name 'Hasui' (meaning 'water gushing from a spring') derived from his elementary school combined with an ideogram of the family name

Printmaking Entry

After attending an exhibition of Shinsui Itō's Eight Views of Lake Biwa, Hasui approached publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe, who commissioned three experimental prints published in August 1918 — marking his formal entry into printmaking

Notable Personal Events

Family Business

Delayed art career due to family expectations; bankruptcy of family wholesale business at age 26 was the pivotal life event enabling his artistic career

Great Kanto Earthquake

The 1923 earthquake destroyed 188 of his sketchbooks and Watanabe's workshop — an enormous loss that required years of travel to rebuild his visual archive

Living National Treasure

1956 designation came after a three-year process (begun 1953) during which the government grappled with crediting collaborative art forms; the documentary process surrounding the 1953 commissions is itself of art-historical significance

Artistic Influences and Context

Movement

Shin-hanga ('new prints') — the early 20th-century movement reviving traditional ukiyo-e woodblock techniques while incorporating Western painterly sensibility and modern atmospheric effects

Key Mentor

Kiyokata Kaburagi (Japanese-style painting teacher and name-giver)

Contemporaries

Hiroshi Yoshida, Itō Shinsui, Tsuchiya Koitsu — fellow major shin-hanga artists

Western Influence

Exposure to Western-style painting gave Hasui his distinctive approach to light, atmosphere, and mood — diverging from traditional ukiyo-e conventions toward plein-air observation

Ukiyo E Predecessors

Deep engagement with the ukiyo-e tradition; studied masters through copying

Publisher Collaborator

Watanabe Shōzaburō (1885–1962) — the primary publisher and chief advocate of the shin-hanga movement; collaborated with Hasui for nearly 40 years

Personal Collecting Impact

Works influenced Steve Jobs (encountered as a teenager through the Fernandez family collection); Hasui's aesthetic values of simplicity, precision, and atmosphere reportedly influenced Jobs' design philosophy at Apple

Studio Practice and Working Methods

Output Scale

Designed over 600 ōban-sized (approximately 38 × 26 cm) woodblock prints, plus more than 100 small postcard-sized prints, plus watercolors, oil paintings, hanging scrolls, and folding screens

Collaboration

Woodblock printing required close collaboration between designer (Hasui), engraver, and printer; Hasui described requiring 'telepathic communication' with skilled printers, noting that even experienced printers might need 2–3 trial prints to achieve a successful result

Field Sketching

Travelled extensively across Japan sketching on site ('en plein air' approach) rather than relying on established famous-place conventions — his large body of surviving watercolors are closely linked to his woodblock designs

Primary Publisher

Primarily published by Watanabe Shōzaburō; also produced designs for Sakai-Kawaguchi and a small number of other publishers