Okayama Castle

Okayama Castle — the "Crow Castle" for its distinctive black lacquered wood finish — rises in stark silhouette against sky. Ono's castle prints translate the drama of Japanese feudal architecture into flat, modernist terms: the tiered rooflines become stacked geometric planes, the white walls or dark exteriors become bold tonal contrasts. His treatment of Okayama is likely more austere and structurally confrontational than traditional castle prints in the shin-hanga mode.