Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
Figures approach a temple in this woodblock print, participating in one of the most enduring subjects in Japanese art. Temple visits — whether for prayer, festival attendance, or seasonal appreciation of grounds and gardens — structured daily life in Japan for centuries and provided printmakers with endlessly varied compositional material. Arai depicts the approach rather than the temple interior, capturing the moment of transition from secular to sacred space. The architecture rises in the background while visitors move along a path or through a gate, their postures suggesting the quiet purposefulness of pilgrimage. Arai's experience rendering elaborate costumes in his [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) work serves him here, as visitors' clothing indicates social status, season, and the formality of the occasion.
伏見稲荷
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Uji Byodoin no ichibu
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Visiting a Temple was created by Yoshimune Arai (荒井芳宗).
Visiting a Temple depicts temples & shrines.
