Sakurada Gate

Medium:: Woodblock print
Source:: Art of Japan

Typical Price

Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.

Common examples: $100–$500
Good impressions: $500–$2,000
Premium/scarce: $2,000–$10,000

Description

Sakurada Gate (Sakuradamon), one of the surviving original gates of Edo Castle's outer moat, stands as both an architectural monument and a site of dramatic historical memory. It was here in 1860 that the shogunate's chief minister Ii Naosuke was assassinated by samurai from the Mito domain, an event that accelerated the fall of the Tokugawa regime. Suwa's woodblock print presents the gate's massive stone walls and tiled-roof watchtower with attention to the structure's imposing proportions. The gate now serves as a formal entrance to the Imperial Palace's outer gardens, and its persistence amid modern Tokyo's steel-and-glass towers makes it a potent visual symbol of historical continuity in a city that has repeatedly rebuilt itself.