Bannai Kokan: Nihonbashi in Snow 日本橋

Artist: Bannai Kokan (1900-1963)Title: Nihonbashi in Snow 日本橋 (Yuki no Nihonbashi) Series: Modern Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido 現代東海道五十三次之内 Gendai Tokaido Gojusantugi no uchi  Date: 1930 Terrific snow design of a prewar buildings and transport in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo. Beneath the stone bridge we see a man in in an old-fashioned straw coat poling an old-fashioned wooden boat beneath one of the spans; above we see streetcars and foot traffic crossing the bridge. In addition to the famous  streetcar crossing, we see what must be the 1914 Daiei Building, standing tall at right. It was most certainly destroyed in WWII, but today the building stands taller in a similar design, made of steel and glass.  The snow has been rendered in a unique way, unlike that of any other artist at the time. It is shown in large clumps as well as thin streaks, and above the water the snowflakes are much softer and more translucent. This work was apparently based on a painting that the artist exhi