Chumon (Inner Gate), Horyu-ji

This print depicts the Chumon, the inner gate that divides the outer precinct of Horyu-ji from the inner compound housing the kondō and pagoda. As the oldest surviving wooden gate complex in Japan, dating to the late seventh century, the Chumon held particular resonance for Sasajima, who returned to Horyu-ji repeatedly over his career. The sosaku-hanga method allowed him to render the gate's bracketing system and tile-capped gabled roof with the directness of a single artist's hand — the grain of the woodblock often visible in flat passages of sky or shadow. Sasajima's architectural prints characteristically compress perspective and strip away surrounding landscape clutter, isolating structural geometry. Broad areas of low-contrast bokashi suggest the diffused light of overcast Nara days, while finely carved lines articulate the rhythmic repetition of the bracketing tiers above the gate's massive pillars.