$1,000–$8,000. Common prints: $1,000–$2,500. Key value factors: As a pioneer of sosaku-hanga and influential art critic, Hakutei's prints carry historical significance. Early self-carved prints are most valued.
This print portrays the Asakusa district, Tokyo's most vibrant popular entertainment quarter and the site of the ancient Senso-ji temple. Hakutei captures the area where Buddhist architecture and bustling commercial life coexisted, a juxtaposition that defined Asakusa's character in the early twentieth century. The woodblock medium allows Hakutei to flatten the busy streetscape into layered planes, a technique that reveals his dual training in Western painting and Japanese graphic traditions. Asakusa served as a magnet for artists of all stripes during this period, and Hakutei's decision to render it in the sosaku-hanga format rather than the commercially published shin-hanga style reflects his ideological commitment to the artist-printmaker as sole creator. The composition balances the temple precinct's verticality against the horizontal spread of the surrounding neighborhood.
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Asakusa was created by Ishii Hakutei (石井柏亭).
Asakusa depicts urban scenes and temples & shrines, set at Asakusa.
