Futatsudo Hall at Nikko Shrine

This print depicts the Futatsudo, the twin Tendai Buddhist halls—Jōgyōdō and Hokkedo—at Rinnoji Temple within the Nikko shrine and temple complex in Tochigi Prefecture. Hasui frequently returned to Nikko as a subject, and the Futatsudo, with their distinctive tiled roofs and forested setting, offered rich compositional possibilities. The surrounding cryptomeria cedars, planted by the Tokugawa shogunate in the seventeenth century, frame the ancient structures and provide an opportunity for Hasui to render deep, layered greens through graduated bokashi printing. The composition likely situates the viewer at ground level, emphasizing the scale of the architecture against its wooded enclosure. Printed in the shin-hanga tradition under publisher Watanabe Shōzaburō, the oban-format sheet employs multiple impressions to build tonal depth in the shadowed eaves and stone paving.