Potara Mausoleum at Shotoku 1948

Unichi Hiratsuka made this woodblock print of the Potara Mausoleum at Shotoku in Japan using the Japanese wood engraving technique known as Moku-hanga. The Potara Mausoleum, resembling a fortress, commemorates Prince Shotoku, a semi-legendary regent and intellectual of the Asuka period who is credited with the early promotion of Buddhism in Japan. The way an institution, such as Buddhism, can shape artistic production is clear in this image. Shotoku contributed to the transformation of Japan into a centralized state during a time of significant social and political change and Moku-hanga as a printmaking method, speaks to the democratization of art in Japan, since woodblock prints can be produced in multiples, and could therefore be disseminated widely. Careful historical research and attention to the institutions and social forces in play in the image’s moment of creation, allow us to better understand its meanings.