Tokyo

This woodblock print takes the Japanese capital as its subject, situating Sekino within a long tradition of urban imagery while bringing the sosaku-hanga sensibility to the modern city. By the mid-Shōwa period, Tokyo had been substantially rebuilt following wartime destruction, and the cityscape was undergoing rapid transformation: traditional wooden streetscapes coexisted with concrete commercial buildings, elevated highways, and new civic monuments. Sekino's print may focus on a specific neighborhood, landmark, or stretch of the Sumida River, or present a more compressed impression of urban density. The woodblock medium's capacity for flat color fields and bold outlines suits the graphic energy of city imagery. Unlike the established scenic repertoire of Edo-period ukiyo-e views, Sekino's Tokyo reflects personal selection and direct observation, treating the postwar capital not as a collection of famous places but as a lived visual environment shaped by reconstruction, modernization, and the particular texture of Shōwa-era daily life.