Atagoyama Shrine

Atagoyama Shrine — Atago Jinja — sits atop Atago-yama, the highest natural hill in central Tokyo, reached by the steep 'Stone Steps of Success' (shussei no ishidan). Morimura's print takes a vantage looking up the steps toward the shrine gate, or surveys the precinct nestled among trees, with the geometry of the stone risers rendered as a strict diagonal stack of pale planes against the deeper greens of the surrounding canopy. The shrine's red torii and small honden offer points of saturated color within an otherwise restrained palette — a balance characteristic of his architectural compositions. He prints the work in mokuhanga from hand-cut cherry blocks on washi, applying bokashi to the foliage and using a fine keyblock to articulate the rope-bound shimenawa, lantern caps, and railings of the steps. The print belongs to his extended Tokyo shrine series, which documents urban Shinto sites surviving within the modern city.