By the Sumida River, Komagata, from the series "Twelve Scenes of Tokyo" 

Kawase Hasui studied with Ito Shinsui and was greatly impressed by his colleague’s landscape prints. After a meeting with Watanabe Shozaburo, a publisher who sought to revive the Edo Period (1603–1868) tradition of ukiyo-e and its system of collaboration between dedicated artists, engravers, and printers, Hasui chose the path of ukiyo-e artist. It was this series, dubbed Twelve Scenes of Tokyo and made from the summer of 1919 to the spring of 1921, that established his reputation. Born and raised in Tokyo and with an easygoing sensibility, Hasui weaved his nostalgia for Edo Period life and culture into twelve refreshing views that weren’t confined to the city’s established landmarks.

This picture probably shows the area near where Komagatado Hall stands in Asakusa. The sharp composition with the Sumida River visible through a fan-shaped opening in the bundles of cut bamboo along with the napping carriage driver conveys the languid midday hours of a hot summer’s day.

(SAKAMOTO Kyoko)