Gioji, the small thatched temple in the Sagano bamboo district where the retired courtesan Gio is said to have become a nun after her patron Taira no Kiyomori abandoned her, is among Kyoto's most melancholy sites—a garden of moss and fern, the small thatched hall almost entirely surrounded by green. Saito's rendering would reduce this famous atmospheric quality to flat planes of organic color, the architecture nearly subsumed by the garden's living surface.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Giö-ji was created by Saito Kiyoshi (斎藤清).
Giö-ji depicts landscapes, temples & shrines, and gardens.
