Site of the Capital city of Ancient Paekche, Korea

Paekche (Baekje), one of the Three Kingdoms of ancient Korea, established its final capital at Sabi, present-day Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province, from 538 until the kingdom's fall in 660. The site contains the remains of palaces, fortifications, and Buddhist temples, several of which are now inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Hiratsuka's interest in the location reflects his sustained engagement with East Asian Buddhist heritage, which extended beyond Japan to include subjects from Korea and China. As a [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) print, the work would be his own from drawing through block carving to [baren](/glossary/baren) impression on [washi](/glossary/washi). His treatment of historic sites typically reduces architecture and topography to bold blocks of solid [sumi](/glossary/sumi) against bare paper, with line carrying both descriptive and structural weight. The Paekche subject also reflects the regional travel undertaken by mid-twentieth-century Japanese printmakers, including Hiratsuka, during a politically complex era.