Bell Tower at Mt. Kôya (Kôyasan shôrô), from the series Collected Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fûkei shû II Kansai hen)

From the series Collected Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fūkei shū II Kansai hen), this print depicts the bell tower (shōrō) at Kōyasan, the sacred mountain complex in Wakayama Prefecture founded by Kūkai (Kōbō Daishi) in 816 as the headquarters of Shingon Buddhism. The shōrō at Kōyasan is a substantial wooden structure housing a large bronze bell, set within the monastery precinct among towering sugi cedar trees. Hasui likely rendered the tower with the dense surrounding forest that defines Kōyasan's atmosphere: dark cedar trunks creating strong vertical rhythms against mist or cloud, their scale emphasizing the human measure of the architecture beneath. The Kansai series reflects Hasui's systematic documentation of western Japan's religious and historical sites, presented in oban format with nuanced bokashi gradations establishing mood through atmospheric sky treatment.