Temple Bell

Temple Bell, published around 1920 by the Hasegawa publisher in Tokyo, is one of Shoda Koho's quietest and most contemplative [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) designs. Although his reputation rests largely on shin-hanga [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) bird-and-flower compositions, Koho also contributed a substantial body of landscape and architectural studies to Hasegawa's small-format night-scene series, and Temple Bell is among the strongest of these. The image isolates a great bronze bonsho suspended within the timber framework of a temple bell tower, the bell's curved profile occupying the center of the sheet while the surrounding architecture recedes into a soft inky dusk. Koho controls the palette with characteristic discipline, layering deep indigos, slate greens, and warm umbers so that the bell appears to glow faintly against the darkness without any bright accent disturbing the meditative mood. The carvers articulated the bell's lotus-petal band and dragon-head suspension hook with precise keyblock work, while the [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations in the sky and rafters were pulled by Hasegawa's printers in the layered washes the studio became known for. There is no figure, no movement, only the implied resonance of a sound about to be struck, an effect that aligns the print with the broader shin-hanga interest in mood and atmosphere over narrative. The Hasegawa firm produced the design for both the domestic market and for Western tourists, and the [chuban](/glossary/chuban) sheet size made it suitable as an inexpensive collectible souvenir of Japanese temple culture. The impression documented in the Japanese Art Open Database retains the crisp registration and saturated night tones that Koho's Hasegawa night scenes are prized for among collectors today.