Dōtonbori

Created in 1928, Dōtonbori is an enchanting view into a rare, quiet moment in the normally bustling tourist section of Osaka. Through a delicate silhouette of a cascading willow tree, we’re transported to the banks of the Dōtonbori canal. With washes of deep indigo and emphasis on shadowed forms, Dōtonbori exemplifies the mōrō-tai style, a modernist approach to woodblock prints made popular during the Meiji period of Japan. Hazy, diffuse forms—influenced by popular Western artistic styles at the time—were favored over the delicate line drawings of earlier, Edo ukiyo-e woodblock prints. Similar to Konen’s Hatō zu waves, Dōtonbori captures a moment frozen in time with impressionistic dynamicism.