Zenyôji's falling-star pine (ryūsei-no-matsu) is a specimen tree associated with a meteorite legend, and Koizumi treats it as both the compositional anchor and the cultural signifier of the temple precinct. The print likely positions the gnarled pine across the foreground or middle ground, with temple architecture — gate, hall, or stone lantern — receding behind. Carving an aged pine tests a printmaker's keyblock work: the bark's craggy texture and asymmetric needle clusters require fine knife technique against a hardwood block, typically cherry. As a plate from Dai Tokyo Hyakkei (One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo), the work belongs to the [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) tradition of famous-place imagery that Koizumi inherited from Hiroshige and adapted to interwar Tokyo. The series, issued between 1928 and 1940, documented landmarks both ancient and modern, and the inclusion of a temple's sacred tree fits its program of cultural inventory across the rebuilt capital.
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Color woodblock print; oban
![Kiba Lumberyard along the River at Fukugawa (New Edition) [Fukagawa-ku, kiba no kawasuji (shinpan)], from the series "One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era (Showa dai Tokyo fukei hyaku zue hanga)" by Kishio Koizumi](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/f6380c15-6d23-c26a-899d-08ead4db792b/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1940
Color woodblock print; oban
伏見稲荷
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Falling Star Pine Tree at Zenyôji Temple was created by Kishio Koizumi (小泉癸巳男).
Falling Star Pine Tree at Zenyôji Temple depicts temples & shrines and trees.