Sakurada Gate of the Imperial Palace (Sakurada mon), from the series Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tôkyô nijûkei)

Published as part of the series Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tōkyō nijūkei), this print depicts Sakurada Gate (Sakuradamon), a National Historic Site and one of the last intact Edo-period castle gates in the capital. The series, produced in collaboration with publisher Watanabe Shozaburo, positioned Hasui as the definitive recorder of modern Tokyo's historic and atmospheric landscapes. Sakuradamon carries historical weight as the site of the 1860 assassination of rōjū Ii Naosuke, and its imposing masugata construction — two connected enclosures designed to slow enemy advance — lends the composition strong geometric architecture to work against. Hasui likely renders the stone walls in careful tonal graduation, their rough-hewn surfaces contrasting with the whitewashed plaster of the watchtower above. The series format standardized the oban vertical sheet and allowed consistent technical ambition across compositions, with Watanabe's craftsmen applying multiple passes for sky bokashi and stone textures.