Hasui Kawase is Japan’s most famous Shin Hanga painter.His Shinhanga are still popular today and have earned him a reputation for Japanese woodblock prints.

Painting style

The theme of Hasui was the landscape of Japan.He went on a sketch trip to various parts of Japan.

The birth of Hasui and the road to becoming a painter

His real name is Kawase Bunjiro(川瀬文治郎) .Hasui Kawase was born in 1883 (Meiji 16) in Rougetsu-cho, Shiba-ku, Tokyo, as the eldest son of Shobei Kawase, a braid craftsman.Hasui was in a position to take over the family business as a child of a braid craftsman, but he was not in trouble with the succession.

Around 1897 (Meiji 22) Hasui tries to become a painter when he is about 14 years old. Hasui becomes a disciple of a person named Aoyagi Sumikawa(青柳炭川).
This person is a disciple of the Shijo school(四条派) painter Nakajima Raisho（中島来章）.

Around 1897 (Meiji 22) Hasui tries to become a painter when he is about 14 years old. Hasui becomes a disciple of a person named Aoyagi Sumikawa.
This person is a disciple of the Shijo school painter Nakajima Raisho.
Hasui was able to study painting for nearly a year in his first year.
However, due to opposition from his relatives, he gave up studying painting.For the next four years he was busy helping the family business and he couldn’t paint.

It was in 1897 (Meiji 35) when Hasui was 19 years old that he was able to study painting in earnest again.
He was allowed to study painting with the promise that he would take over the family business.
He became a disciple of Araki Jippo(荒木十畝)relative,Araki Kanyu(荒木寛友), a painter of Nanga(南画).
At the same time, Hasui studies commerce, English, and Chinese writing at night at Okura Commercial School.

Apprentice to Kiyokata

The biggest influence on Hasui was the apprenticeship to Kiyokata Kaburagi.He was a painter who followed the tradition of Mizuno Toshikata at that time, and was famous for bijin-ga.

1908 (Meiji 41) Hasui left the family business to his sister’s couple around the age of 25 and began studying painting in earnest.
He initially tried to apprentice to Kiyokata Kaburagi, but he was turned down because he was too old to be an apprentice at the age of 25.

By the way, Kiyokata became a disciple of Toshikata Mizuno around the age of 13.Ohara Koson became a disciple of Kamura around the age of 12 or 15.The same Kiyokata disciple, Shiro Kasamatsu(笠松紫郎), was around 14 years old.
Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (小早川清) and Yamakawa Shuho (山川秀峰) are around 15 years old.

Hasui is around 25 years old, so it’s almost 10 years old late.

Kiyokata encouraged Hasui to study oil painting and Western painting.I think this is because Western paintings took a relatively short period of time to stand alone.

Hasui studied oil painting at the Aoibashi Western Painting Institute, which was established by the Hakuba-kai, which was studying Western painting at the time, but he was not familiar with oil painting.

In 1910 (Meiji 43), he became a disciple of Kiyokata again and was recognized this time.

After becoming a disciple of Kiyokata, he practiced painting by copying Kuniyoshi Utagawa and Yoshitoshi Tsukioka.

Hasui’s early work

In 1913, Hasui drew an advertisement design for a store called Hakubotan(白牡丹) around the age of 30, and this was Hasui’s first job.

Currently, the Hakubotan in Ginza is gone.The work of advertising and design continued until around 1918.As an aside, the work of drawing advertisements and designs has been a job that the Utagawa school has continued since its inception, and Kiyokata and Yoshitoshi, who follows the trend, are also doing advertising and design work.

Hasui’s first art work

Hasui produced the works of art in 1915, and exhibited the landscape paintings and bijin-ga of the first “kyōdokai 郷土会” opened by Kiyokata’s students.

Hasui produced the works of art in 1915, and exhibited the landscape paintings and bijin-ga of the first “local society” opened by Kiyokata’s students.
At this time, he met the publisher, Shozaburo Watanabe, and he was invited to make a woodblock print.

This year, Ito Shinsui sells a work called “対鏡 Taikyou” from Watanabe wood block Print .

In 1917 (Taisho 6), Hasui married named Yoshikawa Ume .This year, Hasui was influenced by seeing a woodblock print called “Omi Hakkei series” produced by Shinsui.

There are 8 types of works at this time.The woodblock was burnt by the earthquake, making it difficult to produce.

Hasui produced three woodblock prints on the theme of Shiobara, a hot spring resort in Tochigi Prefecture.

The above three works are Hasui’s first woodblock prints.(Published by 1917(Taisho 7 period))

1919 (Taisho 8) Travel to Sendai, Lake Towada, Aomori, and Shiobara. Producing the “Travel Souvenirs series Vol. 1″15 types in total.There are Vol 3 of this “travel souvenir series”.

The photo above is an excerpt from Hasui’s “Travel Souvenir Series Vol. 1″Since there are so many works by Hasui, I can’t introduce all of them, so I would like to introduce only representative series.

Hasui also produced a series of works called “Twelve scenes of Tokyo” this year.

He traveled to various parts of Hasui in Japan and made woodblock prints until seven years before his death (died in 1957).Hasui was so motivated to make prints.

In 1919(Taisho 9), at the request of Kiyokata, he was asked to make eight original woodblock prints of the Iwasaki family’s Kiyosumi villa and its garden.

This woodblock work was made as a gift from an overseas company with which the Iwasaki family traded.This request triggered the name of Hasui to be known overseas.

Hasui’s turning point

Shinhanga artist and Hasui works were well received at the Shinhanga exhibition held at a department store called Shirakiya in 1921, which was the catalyst for Hasui’ success.

Hasui’s last work

Hasui’s last work is a work called ” Hall of the Golden hue Hiraizumi”.This work is the last woodblock print left by Hasui. Hasui died while he was handing the sketch of this work to Watanabe Woodblock Print Shop and making woodblock prints.

Finally

As for Hasui, unlike Ohara Koson and Takahashi Shotei, there are records of what kind of work was produced in what age. Therefore, it was a difficult painter to put together. For the time being, the introduction of Hasui ends here.