Title unknown [Town with tile-roofed buildings]

Dated 1968, this woodblock print in ink on paper with embossing presents a townscape dominated by traditional tile-roofed buildings. The embossing adds physical dimension to the printed surface, raising elements of the architecture into tactile relief that mimics the layered geometry of tiled roofs. The subject is unusual for Sasajima, who more often focused on unpopulated natural landscapes, but the closely packed rooflines of a Japanese town share a formal kinship with his forest scenes, substituting architectural repetition for the rhythm of tree trunks. The tile roofs, with their orderly rows of curved ceramic, translate well into the woodblock medium's capacity for pattern and texture. The town depicted may be one of the historic settlements near the Buddhist temples that drew Sasajima as both pilgrim and artist.