Nikko five-tiered pagoda

The five-story pagoda at the entrance to the Toshogu shrine complex in Nikko — donated by the Wakasa-Obama daimyo in 1650 and rebuilt in 1818 after fire — served as a recurring motif for [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) landscapists drawn to its red lacquer surfaces and elaborate carved roof brackets. Koitsu's treatment most likely places the pagoda among towering cryptomeria, the dense vertical trunks framing the structure and emphasizing its tiered silhouette. The print would rely on the careful registration required for [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e) architectural subjects, where each roof level and the surrounding foliage demand separate blocks cut and aligned with precision. Shin-hanga publishers favored Nikko for its association with Tokugawa devotional architecture and its place on the established sightseeing circuit promoted to domestic and Western audiences during the 1930s. Within Koitsu's body of work, this print belongs to the temples-and-shrines group that, alongside his snow scenes, accounted for the bulk of his [oban](/glossary/oban)-format landscape designs published through Doi Hangaten.