Ishiwata Kōitsu (Japan, 1897-1987) Print, oban yoko-e, Haneda nakamachi nite (warazukuru ie) (羽田中町 にて （藁造る家）), A Haneda, Nakamachi (Straw manufacturer). Signed Koitsu and stamped Ishiwata. Publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō. Dated Showa 6 (1931). Collector's stamp on reverse (folds, stains, hole). Size 26 x 38.8 cm Ishiwata Kōitsu was born in 1897 in the Tokyo area. He began his career as a fabric designer and painter in the nihonga style. Around 1930, he gave up his job in a department store and began making prints under the guidance of Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), a leading landscape artist of his time. His first print was published by Watanabe Shōzaburō. His favourite subjects were village scenes around Yokohama. Koitsu ended his collaboration with Shōzaburō in 1935 and turned to the publisher Katō Junji, with whom he published a series on Japanese games (1935) and complexes around hot springs (1940s). Reference: A similar print held at the Smithsonian, no. S2003.8.248