Golden Pavillion (Spring)

A second treatment of the Golden Pavilion in spring, this oban-format woodblock print presents a slightly different vantage point or seasonal moment compared to the companion piece in Koichi's catalog. The parenthetical "Spring" in the title indicates the season, with cherry blossoms or new maple leaves likely surrounding the three-story structure. Kinkaku-ji was rebuilt in 1955 after an arson fire in 1950, and Koichi, working in the postwar decades, may have depicted either the original or reconstructed pavilion depending on the print's date. The pond garden, designed in the fourteenth century, provides a compositional anchor across both versions, its calm surface doubling the gilded facade. Variations on a single subject were common among shin-hanga artists, who explored how shifting light, season, and weather could transform a familiar landmark.