Mount Fuji and the beach at Miho no Matsubara

司馬江漢筆 富士三保松原図
Shiba Kokan worked both in the traditional Japanese style and in the European manner. This painting depicts Mount Fuji as seen from the pine grove in Miho, a beach projecting into Suruga Bay in Shizuoka prefecture. In order to enhance the grand beauty of the sacred mountain, Shiba Kokan chose a view (similar to the views in Kano Tanyu's screens to your right) that includes both Mount Fuji and Pine Beach at Miho. Here Mount Fuji rises from the horizon, partially covered by clouds. Kokan studied the perspective techniques of Western paintings and etchings, and sometimes used them in his landscape paintings. In this painting, however, he used these techniques so subtly that they are difficult to detect. The painter signed this scroll at the lower right and impressed two seals reading "Kokan" and "Shiba Shun."