Pagoda at Yasaka

This print depicts the five-storied pagoda of Hokan-ji, popularly known as the Yasaka Pagoda, which rises above the rooftops of Kyoto's Higashiyama district. The composition almost certainly frames the pagoda from a sloping lane below, with tiled machiya roofs receding toward the structure -- a vantage that makes the pagoda the dominant vertical against a quieter horizontal townscape. Such views demanded careful registration across multiple blocks to align the stacked eaves and the tiled roofs receding in perspective. The [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) landscape vocabulary favored [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations in the sky to suggest atmosphere, and a print of this subject would typically employ a soft tonal wash above the pagoda finial. The Yasaka Pagoda was a recurrent motif among shin-hanga designers documenting Kyoto's surviving Edo-period fabric, and Nomura's treatment fits this broader publisher-led project of recording traditional architectural landmarks. The subject sits squarely within his recorded repertoire of temples and pagodas.