Like a kigo (a season word) in traditional haiku, Japanese shin hanga (new prints) often suggest the transience of nature. Kawase Hasui, one of the most prominent artists of this printmaking movement, evoked fleeting moments of seasonal beauty in his imagery―spring heralded by cherry blossoms and azaleas, autumn announced by a blaze of maple leaves. In concert with the opening of Japan's cultural and political borders, Hasui was also influenced by Western realistic art, particularly photography. An increased emphasis on shading and linear perspective is noticeable in his atmospheric depictions of Japan's architecture and landscape.

The shin hanga movement began around 1915, and within a few years, Hasui began collaborating with publisher Watanabe Shozaburo, a relationship that would continue for the rest of Hasui's life. Throughout his career, Hasui created more than six hundred woodblock prints. The twelve shown here, created from 1920 to 1949, are in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

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