Kiyosu Bridge at Twilight – Kawase Hasui Print

The blue hour over the Sumida River

Twilight settles over Tokyo. The steel arches of Kiyosu Bridge stand against a sky graded from turquoise to indigo, and the lights strung along the structure scatter like fireflies across the dark water. Below, traditional boats glide silently beneath the span. Kawase Hasui was a master of this moment, the one where day gives way to night.

A modern bridge in a traditional art form

Kiyosu Bridge was completed in 1928, during the great reconstruction of Tokyo that followed the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923, and its design was inspired by a German suspension bridge over the Rhine. Choosing a brand-new steel structure as the subject of a woodblock print was a statement in itself. Where earlier ukiyo-e artists depicted the wooden bridges of Edo, Hasui records the city as it was being rebuilt, and finds the same poetry in it.

Tradition and modernity, side by side

Everything in this print speaks of a country in transition: the riveted steel above, the old boats below, electric light on one side, the calm of the river on the other. Kawase Hasui (1883–1957), the leading landscape artist of the shin-hanga movement, published this view with Watanabe Shōzaburō during the Shōwa era.

Why it works so well on a wall

Its deep blues and golden highlights make this one of the most striking prints in our Hasui collection. It suits a living room, an office or a bedroom, and looks particularly good on a dark or navy wall. Frame it in black for a contemporary feel, or in brass-toned metal to pick up the lights on the water.

• Artist: Kawase Hasui (1883–1957) 川瀬巴水
• Japanese title: Kiyosubashi 清洲橋
• Period: Shōwa era, 1930s
• Publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō 渡邊庄三郎
• Original: color woodblock print (mokuhanga)
• Our print: high-quality reproduction on museum-grade matte paper (not an original woodblock print)

For another Tokyo night scene, discover Moon on the Arakawa River in Akabane, or explore our full Kawase Hasui prints collection.