Early Summer Rain at Arakawa - Kawase Hasui Phone Case

Kawase Hasui designed Early Summer Rain at Arakawa in 1932, and the banks of the Arakawa River have been wet ever since. Samidare, the fifth-month rain of the old lunar calendar, drops in straight carved strokes across teal water. A woman in a midnight kimono walks the gravel bank. Her obi glows faded rose. Above her, a lapis janome umbrella ringed in white holds off the whole sky. She watches moored skiffs knock together. One cradles a mustard bundle under a pole. On the houseboat, a man leans on his elbows beside a pot of carmine blooms. Nobody hurries in tsuyu. Bokashi shading sinks the sky from pewter teal toward the far trees, where two sails lean past a chartreuse meadow. This Shōwa-era shin-hanga woodblock print left Doi Teiichi's Tokyo shop pressed by baren into washi, slate blue and moss green soaked deep into the fibers. On this tough phone case, her umbrella stays open forever. Every call arriving under June cloud. Her reflection pools on the path of possibility.