Multicoloured autumn - Himeji Castle

Multicoloured autumn - Himeji Castle depicts the white-plastered tenshu of Himeji-jō rising above maples and ginkgo in full autumn colour. The composition almost certainly sets the multi-tiered keep and its hipped gables against a foreground band of red, orange, and yellow foliage, with the castle's white walls and grey tile reading as the cool counterweight to the warm lower register. Hashimoto's Himeji prints rely on a precisely cut keyblock for the tile lines, gable curves, and lattice of the gabled openings, with separately registered colour blocks for the roof tile, plaster, and successive tones of the foliage; [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations soften the sky and the recession of the castle grounds. The subject is central to his architectural practice — he returned to Himeji repeatedly across his career — and this version, as a second state or recut of the same composition, reflects the [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) willingness to revisit and rework a motif rather than treat each print as a closed edition fixed at first issue.