Old pagoda

A study of a multi-story Buddhist pagoda, the architectural form Sasajima returned to repeatedly throughout his career. He spent decades documenting the temple complexes of Nara and Kyoto — Horyu-ji, Yakushi-ji, Kofuku-ji, and Toji each contain pagodas that appear in his oeuvre. The print likely emphasizes the stacked roofs as carved bands of dark ink, the architectural rhythm becoming the compositional structure. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation may model the recession of the eaves, while reserved [washi](/glossary/washi) defines the surrounding sky. Sasajima cut every block himself from cherry and pressed every impression by [baren](/glossary/baren), following the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) method he absorbed from Onchi Koshiro. His pagoda prints register both the structural geometry of the architecture and the weathering of its timber — the visible grain of his blocks doubling as a record of centuries-old construction. The general title here points to age rather than specific identification, suggesting one of the historic pagodas central to his sustained study.