$200–$1,500. Common subjects: $200–$500. Key value factors: Kamei Tobei's prints are modestly priced and accessible to collectors of shin-hanga landscapes.
This [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print focuses on a castle gate, the massive timber and stone entrance structure that controlled access to a Japanese feudal castle's grounds. Castle gates, with their heavy wooden doors, iron studs, stone walls, and flanking guard towers, were designed to be both functional military defenses and imposing symbols of the lord's power. Kamei's composition isolates the gate as an architectural subject, its scale and weight conveyed through the woodblock medium's capacity for rendering stone texture and timber mass. The gate's position as a threshold between the outside world and the castle interior creates a natural sense of depth and passage within the composition. Japanese castle gates are among the most enduring features of these complexes, often surviving when the main towers above them were lost to fire or war.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Castle gate was created by Kamei Tobei (亀井東平).
Castle gate depicts castles and architecture.
