Snow and night scenes traditionally command higher prices. Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
"Snowy Day - Five-story Pagoda at Ueno" by Okazaki Shintaro is a woodblock print depicting the Kan'ei-ji temple pagoda in Tokyo's Ueno district blanketed in snow. The five-story pagoda, originally built in 1631 and rebuilt after a fire in 1639, is one of Tokyo's most recognizable landmarks, rising above the trees of Ueno Park. Okazaki captures the structure under heavy snowfall, when the pagoda's tiered roofs accumulate white layers that accentuate the building's stepped silhouette. Snow simplifies the surrounding urban landscape into broad tonal areas, allowing the vertical thrust of the pagoda to dominate the composition. The falling flakes create a sense of muffled stillness, transforming the normally busy Ueno district into a scene of quiet contemplation. This subject places Okazaki within the long tradition of [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e), prints depicting famous places.
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Snowy Day - Five-story Pagoda at Ueno was created by Okazaki Shintaro (岡崎紳太郎).
Snowy Day - Five-story Pagoda at Ueno depicts urban scenes, snow scenes, and pagodas, set at Ueno.
