Byodo-In Temple — 平等院鳳凰堂

Byōdō-in's Hōō-dō (Phoenix Hall), built in 1053 in Uji south of Kyoto, is one of the most recognized architectural monuments in Japan and a subject that challenged Hasui to render complex Tang-influenced wooden structures within his refined landscape idiom. The composition likely shows the hall reflected in the shallow Aji Pond that fronts it — the reflection doubling the building's symmetrical form and allowing Hasui to divide the picture plane between solid architecture above and shimmering water below. The Hōō-dō's distinctive silhouette, with its central hall and flanking corridor wings suggesting an outstretched phoenix, provides an unusually ornate architectural subject compared to Hasui's more typical rural or coastal scenes. The print's coloration likely contrasts the warm vermillion-lacquered woodwork against a cool sky or early morning mist.