Evening Snow at Sanjikkenbori Canal, from the series "Twelve Months in Tokyo" 

At the top right of the work’s title, you can see a seal saying “Watanabe,” and on the bottom left is the date (December 7, 1920). “Watanabe” is a reference to Watanabe Shozaburo, a woodblock print publisher who is known for having reintroduced the traditional division of labor between painter, carver, and printer during the Taisho Era (1912–1926). At dusk, artist Kawase Hasui is walking with Shozaburo in Tokyo’s Ginza district. They reach Sanjikkenbori Canal and then Hasui begins to sketch. The story goes that Shozaburo silently holds out an umbrella so that his artist friend can continue working in the snow.
To recreate the blurry outlook caused by the snow as it falls and its softness as it accumulates on the ground, the wooden blocks have been rubbed with a file or scrubbing brush. On the surface of the river, flecks of yellow have been added to the bluish green to capture the reflections of the light. The viewer is made to feel they are peeking out through a round window into the memory of the artist, who continued to sketch even as his fingers became numb with cold. It is a particularly effective composition.
(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)