SUNA-NO TO (tower of sand by Fumio Kitaoka — Japanese Woodblock print

SUNA-NO TO (tower of sand

by Fumio Kitaoka

Medium:: Woodblock print
Edition:: Self-printed
Source:: wbp

Description

"Tower of sand" (SUNA-NO TO) evokes the paradox of an architectural aspiration built from the most unstable of materials. The image belongs to Kitaoka's extended engagement with imaginary sandy cityscapes — monumental, geometric structures that rise improbably from shifting ground, their geometric precision set against their implicitly temporary nature. The Japanese title in katakana marks this as a conceptual subject, a meditation on the ambition to build and the inevitability of dissolution.

More Prints by Fumio Kitaoka

Sea in the morning by Fumio Kitaoka

Sea in the morning

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Azalea garden of Shisendo Temple by Fumio Kitaoka

Azalea garden of Shisendo Temple

Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)

MOMIJINORINDO B (path to the maple tree) by Fumio Kitaoka

MOMIJINORINDO B (path to the maple tree)

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Silk Dyeing by Fumio Kitaoka

Silk Dyeing

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More Architecture Prints

Futatsu Hall at Nikkō by Kawase Hasui

Futatsu Hall at Nikkō

1930s

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Plum Gateway by Hiroshi Yoshida

Plum Gateway

1935

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The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku) by Hiroshi Yoshida

The Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku)

Kinkaku

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Color woodblock print

Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu) by Kawase Hasui

Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu)

circa 1935

Woodblock print; ink and color on paper

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Sōsaku-Hanga: The Creative-Print Movement

Frequently Asked Questions

SUNA-NO TO (tower of sand was created by Fumio Kitaoka (北岡文雄).

SUNA-NO TO (tower of sand depicts architecture.