Nikko Yomei Gate

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Doi Sadaichi
Edition:

Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Koitsu's daytime landscapes and non-nocturnal scenes are less common on the primary market but still reflect his mastery of atmosphere and color. Values have risen steadily over the past decade.

Later/posthumous printings: $300–$1,000
Lifetime editions, good condition: $1,000–$3,000
Rare subjects or first editions: $3,000–$6,000

Description

The Yomeimon Gate at Toshogu Shrine in Nikko — so elaborately decorated with carvings, gilding, and color that it was nicknamed "Higurashi no Mon" (Gate Where You Forget the Day Passes) — presented Koitsu with a subject both formally complex and spiritually charged. The gate's 400-plus carved figures and ornamental details represented the apex of Edo-period decorative architecture, and Koitsu renders it with care for both its visual richness and its position within the sacred forest of cryptomeria.