Etchu Gokasan, Ishikawa

The title locates the print in the Hokuriku region along the Sea of Japan coast, an area associated with the historical province of Etchu (modern Toyama) and neighboring Ishikawa. The Gokayama (Gokasan) area is best known for its gassho-zukuri thatched farmhouses, whose steeply pitched A-frame roofs evolved to shed the region's heavy winter snow. The composition likely renders one or several such structures in their valley setting, possibly accompanied by terraced paddies or wooded slopes. Tokuriki's regional landscapes extend his [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) practice beyond the well-trafficked Kyoto and Fuji subjects into less-touristed northern locales, joining a postwar tendency among [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) and [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) artists to document vernacular architecture before its disappearance. Compositional treatment typically emphasizes the geometric weight of roof against sloping land, with subdued earth tones, selective [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) in the sky, and crisp keyblock lines defining the timber framing of the gassho roofs.