Asakusa Kannon tempel 1945

Kiyoshi Saito made this print, Asakusa Kannon tempel, and like a painter, he has built up the image through layers of colour. The woodblock printing process itself must have been a slow process of trial, error, and intuition! I can imagine him carefully carving each block and building up the composition, one colour at a time. Look at the people in the foreground – they are almost like silhouettes, so dark compared to the pale sky. The eye is drawn to the Kannon temple in the background, and the red and pink struts of the building pop, framing the silhouetted figures. The bare branches of the tree to the left contrast with the dark temple behind. Each shape and colour holds its own, creating a harmony that really resonates. Like many artists, Saito probably spent his life looking, thinking, and experimenting to find the right way to convey the world as he saw it. Isn’t it amazing how we can still connect with him through this artwork?