Background
In Western Japan's Okayama Prefecture (old Bizen province) there is a small fishing and port town named Shimotsui (下津井). It affords residents and visitors a beautiful view of the Inland Sea. Functioning as a port town from as early as the Heian period (794-1185), Shimotsui became a important hub for shipping of goods and transportation of travelers during the Edo period (1603-1867). Today, the town provides a vista of the Great Seto Bridge (Seto Ohashi, 瀬戸大橋), which links all the smaller islands together. Constructed between 1978 and 1988, it is the longest two-tiered bridge system in the world, accommodating both cars and trains (including the bullet train, Shinkansen, 新幹線, lit., "New Main Line"). 祇園神社
Situated in present-day Okayama prefecture (old Bizen province), the environs of Shimotsui also encompass the Shimotsui Gion Shrine (Shimotsui no Gion Jinja, 下津井の祇園神社), as well as the ruins of Shimotsui Castle (Shimotsui-jô, 下津井城). The castle was first constructed from 1572 to 1592 on a hill overlooking the port of Shimotsui along the Japan Inland Sea. Most of the remaining walls and stone fragments date back to the first quarter of the seventeenth century when the castle was rebuilt and expanded by order of the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. In 1639, however, it was decommissioned.
See the biography of this artist at Ishizaki Shigetoshi.
Design
A much admired series by Ishizaki is his self-published "Collection of Twelve Views of the Seto Inland Sea" (Seto naikai fûkei hangashû, 瀬戸内海風景版画集) from 1937.
The Seto naikai series is rare. We know of only two complete sets, one formerly in the Nihon no Hanga Museum in Amsterdam (now in the Rijksmuseum), and the other in a private collection. Individual designs show up rather infrequently. The entire set comprises views of the following locales: Iyo Kurushima, Seto Iyo Imabari-ko, Sanuki Yashima, Iyo Takahama-ko, Bingo Sensei-jima, Aki Miyajima, Bingo Abuto, Iyo Matsuyama-jo, Sanuki Takamatsu-ko, Sanuki Marugame-ko, Sanuki Kankakei, and Bizen Shimotsui.
The reflection of glittering moonlight on the water sets the time as early evening. Our impression has a subtle indication of the moon behind the clouds, with barely a hint of yellow pigment. Other slightly later impressions have a much stronger printing of yellow for the moon.
References: "Ishizaki Shigetoshi Hanga-shu" 石崎重利版 画集 (Ishizaki Shigetoshi Hanga-shu Kanko-kai, 石崎重利版画集刊行会, 1984) / "Sôsaku Hanga-shi no Keifu" 創作版画誌の 系譜 (Miki, 三木)
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