Temple in 4 seasons

This print presents a Kyoto temple complex viewed across the four seasons, likely arranged as a polyptych or quadripartite composition that lets the same architectural subject be read against shifting natural conditions. The format draws on the meisho-e tradition of pairing a famous place with seasonal markers — cherry blossoms in spring, summer foliage, autumn maple, and snow on tile rooftops in winter. Tokuriki's Kyoto temple prints typically rely on layered bokashi gradations to suggest atmospheric depth in distant hills and to differentiate roof slopes from the sky, while flat fields of pigment carry the temple buildings themselves. Working largely within the sosaku-hanga model in his postwar output, Tokuriki carved and printed many such Kyoto subjects himself, drawing on his family's centuries-long association with Honganji Temple. The seasonal-cycle format places the work in the lineage of his Kyoto temple series, where site and season are inseparable units of subject matter.