Konjikido (Golden Hall), Hiraizumi (Translation)
平泉金色堂 昭和三十二年 (Primary Title)
Kawase Hasui 川瀬巴水, Japanese, 1883 - 1957 (Artist)
Okura Hanbei (Carver)
Horikawa Shōzaburō (Printer)
Watanabe Shōzaburō 渡邊庄三郎, Japanese, 1885 - 1962 (Publisher)
On November 7, 1957, Kawase Hasui passed away at the age of seventy-four. This print, produced earlier that year, was his very last, and copies were distributed to guests at his funeral. Hasui’s printmaking career spanned decades, bearing witness to momentous periods of peace, conflict, and occupation in 20th century Japan. Here, a lone figure ascends the stairs to Konjikido, or the “Golden Hall,” a small building at Chusonji, a Buddhist temple complex in the northern Iwate Prefecture. Under the night sky, cedar trees line the snow-covered pathway in this graceful yet solemn scene.
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