Yamano Tera, Sendai

Yamano Tera—likely a temple set within the forested hills surrounding Sendai, the principal city of Miyagi Prefecture and the historical capital of the Date domain—places a religious structure within a mountain setting typical of yamadera (mountain temple) compositions. The Sendai region appears in Hasui's work across multiple prints made during his travels through the Tōhoku region of northeastern Japan. Temples set within mountain forests offered Hasui a combination of architectural subject and natural landscape: dark timber halls emerging from cedar or pine groves, stone steps worn by centuries of pilgrimage, and the atmospheric effects of mountain mist or seasonal foliage. Without a series designation, this print may belong to an early regional survey issued by Watanabe Shōzaburō based on Hasui's sketching trip to the Sendai area.