Throughout his long and distinguished career Hamanishi Katsunori has focused on making mezzotint prints, which are characteristically dark and atmospheric. Artists create this effect by starting with a roughened plate surface that prints as a solid black background. They then use a series of burnishers and scrapers to shape the image in negative. Much of Hamanishi’s subject matter is drawn from everyday objects, including this new year’s decoration marked with the character kotobuki (long life).