Ikazuma (Ikaruga Road to Horyu-ji)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Description
This woodblock print portrays the road to Ikaruga, the area in Nara Prefecture home to Horyu-ji, one of the world's oldest surviving wooden structures and a repository of Japan's earliest Buddhist art. The ancient temple complex, founded in the seventh century, drew pilgrims and artists alike along roads that wound through the flat Yamato plain. Sasajima renders the approach rather than the temple itself, finding visual and spiritual interest in the journey. The road functions as a path of pilgrimage, and the landscape through which it passes carries the accumulated weight of centuries of Buddhist devotion. Sasajima revisited the Ikaruga subject multiple times across his career, treating the road as a recurring motif that resonated with his own Buddhist practice and his belief that the spiritual journey matters as much as the destination.
More Prints by Kihei Sasajima
More Travel Scenes Prints
Rain Shower at Shо̄no, from the series Fifty-three Stations of the Tо̄kaidо̄ (Tо̄kaidо̄ gojusan tsugi)
1962
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Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
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Pacific Ocean, Awa Province (Boshu Taikai), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series (Tabi miyage dai sanshu)"
Boshu Taikai
1925
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Gosai Canal in Niigata (Niigata Gosaibori), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ikazuma (Ikaruga Road to Horyu-ji) was created by Kihei Sasajima (笹島喜平).
Ikazuma (Ikaruga Road to Horyu-ji) depicts travel scenes.