Hirosaki Castle

Hirosaki Castle, the sole surviving castle of the Tsugaru clan in what is now Aomori Prefecture, occupies a moated park on the Iwakisan volcanic plain at the foot of Mount Iwaki. Yoshida's composition of the castle almost certainly incorporates cherry blossoms, as the site is renowned for over 2,500 trees surrounding the keep. The three-story tower, modest in scale compared to Himeji or Matsumoto, would appear above the stone retaining walls of the inner citadel, likely reflected in the still water of the outer moat below. Yoshida's treatment of reflected architecture in water — built through close horizontal parallel lines in the keyblock, overprinted with transparent color washes — achieves a sense of shimmering depth difficult to attain in any other printmaking technique. This print belongs to his series of Japanese castle subjects produced during travels across the country.