About This Print
Miyata gives us a distant view of Kotohira-gū Shinto shrine on Mount Zōzu with pink-colored shrine buildings half-way up the mountain. A white path on the print leads up to the main and inner shrines. This print is number 6 from volume 4, Shikoku, from the artist's 240 print, 12 volume compendium Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan.
Kotohira-gūThe small town of Kotohira is home to Konpira-san, one of Shikoku's top attractions and one of the main shrines on the 88 temple pilgrimage route. The shrine was founded in the 14th century (Muromachi Period) and lies at the top of 1,368 stone steps.
The deity of seafarers is enshrined at Konpira-san and has been worshipped here on the wooded side of Mount Zozu in Kotohira for well over 1,000 years. Pilgrimage to the shrine, which is also known as Kotohira-gu, became popular in the 14th century, and the flow of worshippers from all over Japan never ceases even today - despite the vertiginous climb!
About the Series "Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints - Scenery of Japan"
Consisting of twelve volumes, each containing twenty woodblock prints depicting scenic locations around Japan, Miyata spent fourteen years from 1970 to 1984 producing the series, which he carved and printed himself in a limited edition of 100 prints each. Most, if not all, the places depicted were actually visited by the artist. Miyata followed this massive series of 240 prints with a printed compendium of the prints titled Miyata Saburō mokuhanga zenshū 宮田三郎木版画全集 (The Complete Woodblock Prints of Miyata Saburō), release in limited edition in five volumes in 1983-1984.
Print Details
| IHL Catalog | #2087 |
| Title |  Komoro Castle and Mount Asayama |
| Series | Miyata Saburō Collection of Woodblock Prints Scenery of Japan 宮田三郎木版画集―日本の風景・四国 第四集 Miyata Saburō Mokuhanga shū Nihon no fūkei・Shikoku, Collection Number 4 |
| Artist | Miyata Saburō (1924-2013) |
| Signature | none |
| Seal |  |
| Publication Date | c. 1974 |
| Edition |  |
| Publisher | the artist in conjunction with the Tokyo Print Research Institute Tokyo Hanga Kenkyūsho 東京版画研究所 |
| Printer | self-printed |
| Impression | excellent |
| Colors | excellent |
| Condition | good - paper wrinkling likely from printing process |
| Genre | sosaku-hanga (creative print) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Format | dai-ōban |
| H x W Paper | 15 1/2 x 20 1/4 in. (39.4 x 51.4 cm) |
| H x W Image | 11 3/4 x 16 in. (29.8 x 40.6 cm) |
| Collections This Print | |
| Reference Literature |
 |  |  |  |  |