$300–$2,500. Snow and night scenes tend to command premium prices for this artist. Key value factors: Okumura's atmospheric landscape prints are modestly priced. Mountain and lake scenes are most sought after.
Nijo Castle, the Tokugawa shogunate's Kyoto residence, presents a strikingly different architectural subject from the temples and shrines that dominate Koichi's catalog. This woodblock print shows the castle in winter, its stone walls and ornate gate topped with snow. The wide moat surrounding the fortification likely appears as a dark band reflecting the overcast sky, framed by snow-laden pine trees. Nijo Castle's "nightingale floors," designed to chirp under footsteps to alert guards, and its lavish painted interiors make it one of Kyoto's most visited landmarks, but Koichi focuses on the exterior profile as seen from across the moat. The winter setting strips the scene of foliage, exposing the massive stone foundations and allowing the castle's horizontal geometry to dominate the composition.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Nijo Castle - Winter was created by Okumura Koichi (奥村厚一).
Nijo Castle - Winter depicts castles, snow scenes, and winter.
