Old castle at Hakone — 箱根の古城
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
This woodblock print depicts the remains of an old castle at Hakone, written in Japanese as 箱根の古城. Hakone, situated in the mountainous terrain west of Tokyo along the old Tokaido highway, served as a strategic checkpoint during the Edo period, and castle ruins in the area speak to centuries of military significance. Nishiyama renders the weathered stone walls and overgrown fortifications half-consumed by forest, creating an image where nature steadily reclaims human construction. The surrounding mountains and dense vegetation of the Hakone volcanic region press in on the crumbling structures, lending the scene a quality of time made visible. Moss-covered walls and leaning ramparts suggest decades of abandonment, with trees growing from cracks in the masonry.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Old castle at Hakone — 箱根の古城 was created by Nishiyama Hideo (西山英雄).
Old castle at Hakone — 箱根の古城 depicts castles, set at Hakone.
