колендарь на 1936

To help gain some perhaps useful additional information about the relative number of copies which exist of this print, we would like to encourage any Hasui collectors worldwide who may own this "winter Kasuga" print in their collections to kindly contact us.

Althought certainly not precise, one rough "measurement" of a given print's rarity is the "number of sightings" reported by collectors over an extended period of time (Marc Kahn uses this "method" at his website to compare the assumed "pre-earthquake" vs "post-earthquake" prints). Here, although we have no other accumulated data to point to, we can tell you that in well over ten years of very active print collecting we have only encountered this "winter Kasuga" print ONE time previously. Contrasting this "frequency" with that of many other more commonly-encountered of Hasui's prints--a number of which are seen for sale several times monthly--it is clear to us that this Shinbi Shoin-published print was certainly not made in great numbers.

Instead, the publisher Shinbi Shoin has chosen to use a tiny, rather unusual red oval "Ha-Sui" seal as their print's identification as to the artist Hasui. This horizonatal-format red oval "Ha-Sui" seal is thusly quite similar to the vertical-format red oval "Ha-Sui" seal seen on smaller Watanabe-published "postcard" prints. Other than this simple "Ha-Sui" seal, this Shimbi Shoin-published "Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara" print itself bears no other title, date, or any publisher's identification directly on the print itself.

Shimbi Shoin's unusual Red Oval "Ha-Sui" Seal

It's also interesting for collectors to note that this apparently quite rare Hasui print does not bear the "usual" Japanese Hasui "signature/seal" combination (the larger red circle with 3 "tear-drops" inside, along with Hasui's black "signature" above).

Shimbi Shoin's unusual Red Oval "Ha-Sui" Seal

Shinbi Shoin Publisher's "Print Identification Sticker" (ca1933-35)

In any case, seemingly very little is widely known about the relationship between the obscure publisher Shimbi Shoin and artist KAWASE Hasui.

Another even more comprehensive (but as yet UN-published) reference tells us a bit more, stating: "Shinbi Shoin: Tokyo; 1905-1936; artists served: IWATA Sentaro, KAWASE Hasui, KAWATSURA Yoshio. Also produced Chinese and Japanese woodblock reproductions." At least, it seems, that this reference's author (name undisclosed) may perhaps be aware of this Hasui print.

Merritt's "Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975" barely mentions Shimbi Shoin Publisher, stating only: "Shinbi Shoin. Published art books and an extensive collection of woodblock facsimiles of classic pictures 1905-1915. Later printed shin-hanga."

Althought this "winter Kasuga" print itself bears no title, no date, nor any publisher's identification on the print itself, according to the "Board of Tourist Industy -- Japanese Government Railways" sticker which is attached to the verso of this print's "presentation folder," we now know that this "winter-version Kasuga" print is published by Shimbi Shoin Publisher of Tokyo (sticker states: "Art Printer: Shimbishoin, Gizna, Tokyo").

Shimbi Shoin's (ca1933-35) -- Watanabe's (1933)

(NOTE: At the time of this article's writing, it is not yet known if the new, soon-to-be-released Hotei-published, "Kawase Hasui -- The Complete Woodblock Prints" (by Kendall H. Brown & Shoichiro Watanabe) will contain this previously "unknown/undocmented" print. SEE "Update" at bottom.)

Further supporting the apparent rarity of this "Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara" print is the fact that we have previously seen ONLY one other copy first-hand.

So apparently rare is this largely "unknown" Hasui print, that it is NOT listed in the comprensive 1979 catalogue raisonnй of Hasui's works, the "Narazaki reference," titled in Japanese as "Kawase Hasui Mokuhangashu" ("The Complete Works of Kawase Hasui").

To collectors of Japanese woodblock prints by the artist KAWASE Hasui, the striking 1933 summertime image titled "Kasuga Shrine at Nara" ("Nara Kasuga Jinsha") published by Watanabe Publisher is quite well known (Narazaki #222). As such, it is among the handful of highly sought-after "red temple images" coveted by these collectors (see below, right). Much rarer, however, is the seemingly undocumented and very seldom seen "look-alike" print published by Shimbi Shoin Publisher (below, left) titled "Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara" (ca1933-35).

Hasui's Unknown "Shinto Shrine of Kasuga at Nara" Print (ca1933-35)

Hasui's seemingly unknown Print (ca1933-35)

The Unknown "Kasuga Shrine" Print of Hasui KAWASE

Ukiyo-e Gallery.com Article: "The Unknown "Kasuga Shrine" Print of Hasui KAWASE (1883-1957)"