Red gate

'Red gate' most likely refers either to a vermillion shrine torii or to a temple sanmon painted in cinnabar lacquer, subjects Kasamatsu treated several times. The composition typically isolates the gate against a contrasting background — snow, dusk sky, or dense foliage — exploiting the saturated red against muted surrounds. Achieving the depth of vermillion required printing the red block in two or three impressions, sometimes with a pink underlayer, a technique characteristic of Watanabe-school shin-hanga and continued in his Unsodo work. Wood grain (mokume) is often allowed to register through the red, giving the lacquered surface visible texture rather than flat color. The motif fits within his lifelong attention to Japanese sacred architecture, alongside the Nippori Suwa and Asakusa Kannon designs, and reflects the shin-hanga preference for landmarks that read instantly as Japanese to both domestic and foreign collectors.