Hasui Kawase (?? ?? Kawase Hasui; May 18; 1883 - November 7; 1957) was a prominent Japanese painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and one of the chief printmakers in the shin-hanga movement.Shin-hanga (???; lit. 'new prints'; 'new woodcut (block) prints') was an art movement in early 20th-century Japan; during the Taisho and Showa periods; that revitalized traditional ukiyo-e art rooted in the Edo and Meiji periods (17th-19th century). It maintained the traditional ukiyo-e collaborative system (hanmoto system) where the artist; carver; printer; and publisher engaged in division of labor; as opposed to the sosaku-hanga (creative prints) movement which advocated the principles of 'self-drawn' (jiga); 'self-carved' (jikoku) and 'self-printed' (jizuri); according to which the artist; with the desire of expressing the self; is the sole creator of art.

The movement flourished from around 1915 to 1942; though it resumed briefly from 1946 through the 1950s. Inspired by European Impressionism; the artists incorporated Western elements such as the effects of light and the expression of individual moods; but focused on strictly traditional themes of landscapes (fukeiga); famous places (meisho); beautiful women (bijinga); kabuki actors (yakusha-e); and birds and flowers (kachoga). Pictures From History