Front Gate of Zozo-ji Temple

Zojo-ji, the Jodo-shu temple in Shiba, Tokyo, is approached through the Sangedatsumon, the Gate of the Three Deliverances, completed in 1622 and one of few wooden structures in central Tokyo to survive the firebombings of 1945. Tokuriki's print frames the gate as a meisho-e subject, likely positioned to register the vermillion-lacquered timbers and tile-edged roof against an open sky. The two-story gate would be drawn with a precise key-block to capture its bracketing and beam construction, with broad color planes for the lacquer and bokashi gradation in the sky. Depending on date, the composition might include Tokyo Tower behind the temple, completed in 1958 and an immediate landmark of the postwar Shiba district. As a Kyoto-based artist, Tokuriki's Tokyo subjects form a smaller subset of his output, but this gate, alongside Senso-ji and the imperial palace, appeared regularly in prints aimed at audiences seeking views of both ancient capitals.