Snow at Zöjö Temple

Zojoji Temple in Shiba, Tokyo, is one of Hasui's most celebrated subjects and the site of his canonical snow composition first published in 1925, which shows the temple's Great Main Gate (Sangedatsu-mon) with the snow-covered rooftop of the main hall visible beyond, set against a steel-grey winter sky. This impression of the composition depicts the Jodo-sect temple founded in 1393, whose gate is the oldest surviving structure in Tokyo. The image belongs to a small group of Hasui prints recognized as masterworks of the shin-hanga movement, distinguished by the restrained palette — white reserved paper for snow, deep blue-grey for the sky, and the dark silhouetted architecture — and the careful bokashi gradations that create luminous depth in the sky passage. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo and printed on dampened washi using traditional baren pressure technique.