Leaf 362 – Art Inspired
Kawase Hasui, ‘Twilight at Kiba Lumber Yard’ (c.1920)
This wonderfully evocative
Shin-hanga print by Kawase Hasui, ‘Twilight at Kiba Lumber Yard’ (c.1920),
reminds me of many a river scene I’ve encountered here in different parts of
Japan. It also reminds me of similar scenes among the muddy inlets along London’s
tidal Thames. Captured perfectly in this particular print, I can feel that
magical sense of time which only becomes perceptible at certain points at the
start and close of day, when the world (and time with it) seems stilled. Almost
as though one can reach out and touch the faraway sky, I suppose it has
something to do with the riverine acoustics, when the wind drops and the very
essence of the outdoors seems to echo deep within.
Sun dips
in evening deeps,
river stilled.
