Hongo Red Gate in the snow

The Akamon, or Red Gate, at the University of Tokyo's Hongo campus survives from 1827, when it was built to mark the marriage of the eleventh shogun's daughter to the Maeda daimyo of Kaga. It is one of the few intact structures of late-Edo daimyo architecture in central Tokyo. Snow scenes are central to Kasamatsu's reputation, and the gate's vermilion lacquer against accumulated snow supplies the compressed tonal contrast he favored. Falling snow would be rendered either through tiny dots of opaque white pigment laid over the printed image or through karazuri blind embossing on the unprinted washi. Bokashi gradients would establish an overcast sky, while the deep saturation of the gate's red required heavy pigment loading and precise registration of the key block. The subject places the print within a small body of Tokyo architectural views Kasamatsu produced alongside his more numerous rural landscapes.