KOKOROMACHI (Kyoto Street)
Description
"Kokoromachi" — literally "waiting with the heart," conveying the particular quality of longing anticipation — is Nishijima's name for this Kyoto streetscape rendered in the mood of patient expectancy. The narrow machiya townhouse street of Kyoto's historic districts is his territory of expertise, and here he captures it in a palette and light that suggest waiting: the street quiet, the surfaces expectant, the composition implying just off-frame the arrival that will complete the scene. The Japanese title's emotional resonance transforms what might be mere topography into a psychological state.
More Prints by Katsuyuki Nishijima
More Urban Scenes Prints
A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Kiyonaga's Pipe (Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Kiyonaga no kiseru)
Woodblock print
View of Kabuki Theater from Matsuya (Ginza Matsuya yori Kabukiza), no. 3 from the series "Pictures of Ginza, First Series (Gashu Ginza dai isshu)"
1928
Color lithograph
Distant View of Mitsukoshi Movie Theater in Shinjuku from the Sixth Floor of Hoteiya (Hoteiya rokkai kara Shinjuku Mitsukoshi Musashi no kan enbo zu), no. 1 from the series "Scenery of Shinjuku (Gashu Shinjuku fukei)"
1930
Color lithograph
Spring Dusk at the Tōshō Shrine in Ueno
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Frequently Asked Questions
KOKOROMACHI (Kyoto Street) was created by Katsuyuki Nishijima (西島勝之).
KOKOROMACHI (Kyoto Street) depicts urban scenes, set at Kyoto.