Zojoji Temple in the Shiba district of Tokyo holds special significance in Japanese print history, famously depicted by Hasui. Kasamatsu's own interpretation offers a personal perspective on this iconic subject. Watanabe lifetime editions sell for $1,000-$2,500. Collectors often display this alongside Hasui's version, making it a compelling companion piece in any shin-hanga collection.
The massive Zojoji Temple in Shiba — Tokyo's principal Jodo sect temple and mausoleum for six Tokugawa shoguns — appears in 1934, the great Sangedatsumon gate looming above the approach while Tokyo Tower has not yet replaced the temple precinct's formerly open sky. Kasamatsu's Zojoji print from the mid-1930s captures the temple at a moment of relative integrity — after the upheavals of the Meiji period but before the temple's wartime destruction in 1945 required extensive rebuilding. The composition documents a now-lost aspect of the temple's grandeur.
伏見稲荷
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Shiba Zojoji Temple (芝増上寺) was created by Shiro Kasamatsu (笠松紫浪) in 1934.
Shiba Zojoji Temple uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.
Shiba Zojoji Temple was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1934).
Shiba Zojoji Temple depicts temples & shrines, set at Tokyo, Zojoji Temple, Shiba.
Shiba Zojoji Temple measures 24 × 36 cm (Oban format).
