Akasaka Palace (Scenes of Last Tokyo)

This print depicts the Akasaka Detached Palace, a Western-style Neo-Baroque structure completed in 1909 and designed by Katayama Tōkuma in the manner of European royal residences. Its inclusion in the "Scenes of Last Tokyo" series places it within Hiratsuka's documentation of the city before the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 destroyed large portions of the urban fabric. Hiratsuka's [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) approach — carving and printing entirely by his own hand — is evident in the characteristically bold linework and strong contrast between inked and uncarved areas of the block. The composition likely emphasizes the palace's ornate facade and formal grounds, rendered with the architectural precision that distinguishes his urban subjects. The choice of a Western-style building reflects the Meiji-era ambition to signal modernity, and Hiratsuka's treatment of it in a traditional Japanese woodblock medium creates an implicit commentary on that cultural tension.