Shrine Gate at Miyajima

This second treatment of the Itsukushima torii suggests Shoda returned to the subject under different conditions—a different time of day, tide level, or season—a common practice among [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) designers who produced multiple variants of the same meisho. The torii of Miyajima, set in the shallows of the Seto Inland Sea, was depicted across the shin-hanga movement by Hasui, Yoshida, and others, each artist seeking a distinct atmospheric reading. Shoda's compositional approach typically places the gate centrally, allowing [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations of sea and sky to carry the emotional weight of the scene. The vermillion lacquered timber is registered as a separate color block, calibrated against the surrounding tonal field. Print variants of this kind testify to the iterative working method of the shin-hanga publishers, who would commission multiple versions of a popular subject. The Miyajima image sits within Shoda's wider catalogue of religious-site [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) alongside his more frequent [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) and nocturnal landscapes.