Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto

This woodblock print portrays Kiyomizu Temple, one of Kyoto's most iconic Buddhist structures, perched on its famous wooden hillside platform overlooking the eastern part of the city. The temple, founded in 778, is celebrated for its main hall that juts out from the hillside on massive wooden pillars without a single nail. Kusaka's rendering of this well-known subject must contend with its extreme familiarity to Japanese audiences while finding a compositional angle that reveals something fresh. The woodblock medium allows for rich treatment of the surrounding forest canopy, which changes dramatically with the seasons and provides much of the site's visual interest. The print connects to an extensive tradition of Kiyomizu depictions in Japanese art stretching back centuries.