Tsubasan Shrine

Tsubasan Shrine portrays one of the smaller mountain shrines that recur throughout Morimura's body of work, dedicated to the kami of a specific peak and typically reached by a stone-paved approach beneath flanking cedars. Morimura's shrine prints habitually emphasize the threshold experience — the worn steps, the mossy komainu, the weathered timber of the haiden — over any panoramic view. Compositionally, expect a tightly cropped frame in which architectural elements like the chigi crossbeams or hinoki bark roof read as flat geometric shapes, set against densely worked foliage carved with characteristic patterning. The palette likely favors deep greens and earth tones, with vermillion accents reserved for sacred details such as the suzu bell rope or shimenawa fittings. Hand-printed on washi from numerous keyblocks and color blocks, the work demonstrates Morimura's commitment to the full sosaku-hanga discipline of self-design, self-carving, and self-printing. The image extends his ongoing quiet inventory of regional sacred architecture, treating a relatively obscure site with the same attentiveness he brings to nationally famous precincts.