Zōjōji Temple in Shiba – Kawase Hasui Print (1925)

Hasui's most famous print

A woman walks alone through deep snow, almost hidden beneath her umbrella. Behind her rises the enormous red gate of Zōjōji temple, its vermilion glowing against a heavy grey sky. Everything is reduced to a few essentials: the red, the white, and a single silhouette. Published in 1925, this design became Kawase Hasui's best-selling work, and countless printmakers went on to imitate its style.

The oldest wooden building in Tokyo

Zōjōji is a great Pure Land Buddhist temple in the Shiba district, in the centre of Tokyo. The gate seen here is the Sangedatsumon, built in 1622 and today the oldest standing wooden building in the capital. Hasui does not show the temple itself, but its threshold: the moment just before entering.

From the Twenty Views of Tokyo

The print belongs to the series Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijūkkei), published by Watanabe Shōzaburō between 1925 and 1930. Hasui had lost his workshop's woodblocks and his sketchbooks in the fire that followed the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923; this series marks his return to the city, rebuilt and yet still recognisable. Impressions are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. To learn more, read our article on the history of Japanese prints, from ukiyo-e to shin-hanga.

Why it works so well on a wall

The contrast between the vermilion gate and the snow gives this print real presence, even in a small format. It stands out beautifully on a white or pale grey wall, in a living room, a hallway or a bedroom, and pairs well with black, natural wood and touches of red. A thin black frame sharpens it; light oak softens it.

• Artist: Kawase Hasui (1883–1957)
• Japanese title: Shiba Zōjōji
• Date: 1925
• Series: Twenty Views of Tokyo (Tokyo nijūkkei)
• Publisher: Watanabe Shōzaburō, Tokyo
• Original: color woodblock print, vertical ōban format
• Our print: high-quality reproduction on museum-grade matte paper (not an original woodblock print)

Hasui returned to the same neighbourhood a few years later with Snow at Shiba Park, a horizontal view of the park surrounding the temple. Explore our full Kawase Hasui prints collection.