National Sumo Wrestling Arena

This print depicts the Kokugikan, the dedicated arena for grand sumo tournaments, likely the original Ryogoku structure or its postwar Kuramae successor depending on date. Hiratsuka treats the building as architecture rather than as a scene of athletic activity — a continuation of his longstanding interest in Japanese civic and religious structures rendered in stark monochrome. The Kokugikan's distinctive roof line, with its sweeping eaves echoing temple architecture despite its secular function, would have appealed to Hiratsuka's sense of Japan's continuity between the sacred and the modern. Carved entirely in black ink on white [washi](/glossary/washi), the print likely emphasizes massive geometric volumes — the dome or hipped roof, the horizontal banding of the facade, the verticals of entry posts — with surrounding figures or vehicles reduced to small silhouettes that establish scale. This architectural focus distinguishes Hiratsuka's [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) approach from earlier [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) sumo prints, which centered on individual wrestlers as celebrities. Here the institution itself, as a building, becomes the subject.