Seninji Temple

Hasui documented temple precincts throughout Japan over the course of his career, recording their architecture in varying seasonal and atmospheric conditions. Seninji Temple, a Buddhist compound, is depicted here in one of his architectural landscape prints. The composition likely presents a temple gate (sanmon), principal hall, or pagoda within a wooded setting, organizing natural and built elements in the restrained manner characteristic of Hasui's temple prints. The time of day is probably indicated through the quality of light — a diffuse afternoon or twilight rendered through Watanabe's workshop's bokashi gradations in the sky rather than through descriptive detail. Hasui's interest in these subjects lay in the visual contrast between the permanence of stone and timber structures and the transience of weather, season, and light effects. Color in such prints tends toward the functional rather than the decorative: ochres and grey-browns for weathered wood and tile, deep greens for surrounding conifers, and the warm cream of the washi ground contributing to the overall tonal atmosphere without requiring a separate printed tone.