Sazai Hall at the Temple of the Five Hundred Rakan (Gohyakurakandera sazaido), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image courtesy of
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
The Sazai-do, a spiral-ramped hall at the Gohyakurakan-ji temple in Edo's Honjo district, provided one of the city's highest vantage points and appears here as the primary architectural subject of this Fugaku sanjurokkei print. The hall's distinctive multi-storied structure with its curved rooflines occupies the right foreground, its architectural detail contrasting with the expansive view of Edo and the distant Fuji visible across the flat Kanto Plain. Visitors on the hall's observation level are depicted at small scale, their presence emphasizing the building's height and the panoramic quality of the view. The temple was renowned for housing five hundred rakan (arhat) sculptures and attracted both religious visitors and sightseers. Hokusai deploys the hall as an architectural frame for the landscape view, using its curving eaves to bracket the distant mountain in a compositional device that recurs throughout the series.
More Prints by Katsushika Hokusai
The Fishermen of Katase Hauling in Their Nets: The Purple Shell (Murasakigai)
1821
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban
Burdock Root (Kurama gobo), from the series "A Selection of Horses (Uma-zukushi)"
1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Horse Shells (Umagai), from the series "A Selection of Horses (Uma-zukushi)"
1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono
Orange Orchids, from an untitled series of flowers
c. 1832
Color woodblock print; oban
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
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Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
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The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sazai Hall at the Temple of the Five Hundred Rakan (Gohyakurakandera sazaido), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei) was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎).
Sazai Hall at the Temple of the Five Hundred Rakan (Gohyakurakandera sazaido), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei) depicts landscapes and temples & shrines.