Rain at Maekawa, Sagami Province — Kawase Hasui | Japanese Art Print

One Figure. One Umbrella. An Entire World of Rain.

Few works in the history of Japanese printmaking capture loneliness and beauty in the same breath as Sōshū Maekawa no Ame — Rain at Maekawa, Sagami Province by Kawase Hasui.

It is night. Rain falls in dense, near-vertical lines that texture the entire image like the grain of wood itself. A lone figure — small, almost swallowed by the scene — walks a flooded village road beneath a pale paper umbrella. On either side, the thatched rooftops of Maekawa's old post-town glow faintly, lantern light bleeding amber into the water pooled on the road. Above it all, enormous dark pines press down from the left, their silhouettes barely distinguishable from the storm.

The palette is extraordinary: deep forest green, wet slate grey, and those warm golden points of light that make the darkness feel inhabited rather than empty. This is a print that breathes.

The Art of the Rain Scene — Hasui at His Most Atmospheric

Kawase Hasui was a master of weather — and among all weathers, rain was perhaps his most personal subject. Where snow brought stillness, rain brought drama: the sound of it, the smell of wet earth, the way lamplight shatters on a flooded street. Hasui understood that rain was not merely a meteorological event but a mood, a state of being.

Maekawa — a historic village in Sagami Province (modern Kanagawa Prefecture) — was one of the old post-towns along the Tōkaidō road. By Hasui's time it was already fading from memory. He preserved it at its most elemental: drenched, dark, and quietly alive.

This is shin-hanga at its most cinematic. The composition pulls the eye deep into the scene, past the figure, past the lanterns, into rain and darkness. It is impossible to look at this print and not hear the water.

About Kawase Hasui (1883–1957)

Kawase Hasui is widely regarded as one of the most important Japanese printmakers of the 20th century and a defining master of the shin-hanga ("new prints") movement. Working under the publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, he traveled across Japan documenting landscapes, villages, temples, and weather with the eye of a poet and the craft of a master. In 1956, the Japanese government designated him a Living National Treasure. His prints are held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and major institutions throughout Japan.

Why This Print Works on Your Wall

Rain at Maekawa brings deep, moody atmosphere into a room. The dominant forest green is rare in fine art posters — rich, sophisticated, and unlike anything in the standard decorating palette. It works beautifully in reading rooms, home offices, bedrooms and dining spaces. It rewards slow, quiet attention.

It pairs naturally with dark wood, natural linen, aged leather, and muted earth tones. It belongs equally in a minimalist Japandi space and in a richly layered interior that collects stories.

Print Details

• Original work: Woodblock print (shin-hanga)
• Subject: Maekawa, Sagami Province (modern Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan)
• Artist: Kawase Hasui (Japanese, 1883–1957)
• Public domain artwork — museum-quality reproduction
• Available in multiple sizes
• Printed on premium archival paper