Gate at Miyajima — 宮島の鳥居

This print depicts the great torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Miyajima in Hiroshima Prefecture, one of the most iconic architectural landmarks in Japan and a subject that drew multiple treatments from Hasui. The vermillion-painted gate stands in the tidal shallows of the Seto Inland Sea, and its reflection in calm water—doubled and wavering—creates a compositional symmetry that Hasui uses to organize the vertical and horizontal elements of the design. The title 宮島の鳥居 names the gate directly. Hasui likely rendered the gate in twilight or evening light, when the lacquered red registers most intensely against a deepening sky achieved through graded bokashi. The distant profile of Miyajima's forested hills would close the horizon, and the water surface—printed with subtle tonal variation—would carry both reflection and the movement of tide.