Nagoya Castle

Nagoya Castle, originally constructed in 1612 by Tokugawa Ieyasu and topped by its golden shachihoko (tiger-fish ornaments), was destroyed by American bombing in 1945 and reconstructed in concrete in 1959. A Tokuriki print of the castle could depict either the pre-war wooden donjon or the post-war reconstruction, both recognisable by the five-tiered roofline and gilded finials. The composition would likely place the keep against a sky rendered in [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi), with the surrounding moat, white-walled storehouses, and pine trees of the castle grounds in the lower register. Castles were a recurring subject in Tokuriki's [meisho-e](/glossary/meisho-e) output, joining temples, shrines, and seasonal landscapes as anchors of regional identity. The reconstruction of major monuments after the war became a recurring theme in mid-century Japanese printmaking, registering both loss and the re-establishment of national landmarks. Tokuriki's architectural prints handle these subjects descriptively rather than commemoratively, focusing on the visual structure of the building.