Chiryü: Roadside Pine Trees

This print depicts Chiryu, a post town on the historic Tokaido road in Aichi Prefecture, specifically its roadside pine trees — a subject with deep roots in Japanese landscape printmaking. The Tokaido's pine-lined roads were documented by Hiroshige and others in the Edo period; Sekino's treatment engages that tradition while applying a modern compositional sensibility. Roadside pines along post roads were maintained as waymarkers and shade, forming strong vertical rhythms along the road corridor. Sekino likely organizes the composition around the graphic contrast between dark pine trunks and a pale sky or road surface, using the woodblock's capacity for textural variation to differentiate bark, needles, and ground. The print belongs to his broader engagement with historic Japanese landscapes.