Pagoda of Toji temple

The five-storey pagoda of Tō-ji in southern Kyoto rises roughly 55 metres above the temple precincts; the current structure dates to the 1644 reconstruction sponsored by Tokugawa Iemitsu, replacing earlier pagodas on the same site since the early ninth century. Compositions of this subject typically emphasize the strict vertical of the tiered roofs against an open sky, often with cherry, maple, or pine framing the lower registers to anchor the architecture in seasonal context. A print of this kind would draw on the careful key-block carving needed to register the bracket complexes (tokyō) and tiled eaves of each storey, with successive colour blocks adding the weathered ochres and dark browns of the timber. Tō-ji was visible from the main railway approach to Kyoto and functioned as a familiar landmark of the city; Kotozuka, working from his Kyoto studio, returned to its silhouette across several prints in his temple-and-shrine series.