The Pagoda at Yasaka
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
- Image courtesy of
- Japanese Art Open Database
Yasaka Pagoda — the five-story tower of Hokanji Temple in Kyoto's Higashiyama district — is among the most recognizable architectural landmarks in the former imperial capital and a recurring subject in [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) and [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) landscape series. This print, one of at least three versions Nomura produced of the subject, depicts the pagoda rising above its densely built urban neighborhood, where the lanes of Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka approach from below. The layered roofs of the pagoda, diminishing in scale with each story, express an architectural refinement that woodblock printing renders naturally through the precision of the keyblock line. Surrounding structures — tiled roofs, bamboo fences, the canopy of a ginkgo or maple — frame the pagoda while establishing its relationship to the urban landscape. Seasonal coloring distinguishes variants; this version may emphasize a particular time of day or year through sky tone and the treatment of atmospheric light falling on the pagoda's weathered timber surfaces.
伏見稲荷
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Pagoda at Yasaka was created by Nomura Yoshimitsu (野村義光).
The Pagoda at Yasaka depicts temples & shrines.
