The Gate of the Thunder God at the Kannon Temple in Asakusa (Asakusa Kanzeon Kaminarimon no zu)

An MFA Boston print of the Thunder Gate (Kaminari-mon) at Asakusa Kannon Temple — Sensō-ji, the great Buddhist temple of northeastern Edo and the most important popular pilgrimage destination in the city — this design (Asakusa Kanzeon Kaminari-mon no zu) belongs to the Edo-cityscape strand of Shūchō's output. The Thunder Gate marked the formal entrance to the temple precinct, with its giant red paper lantern and its flanking figures of the wind god Fūjin and the thunder god Raijin, and prints of it had been a staple of meisho-e (famous-places picture) production since at least the mid-eighteenth century. Shūchō stages the gate as the architectural backdrop to a populated foreground of strolling visitors, vendors, and pilgrims, the procession beneath the lantern giving the design its narrative life. A related Asakusa Kaminari-mon design by Shūchō is also held by the British Museum, suggesting either a republication or a sister composition. The MFA's impression preserves the sheet at sc217084.