Hiroshi Yoshida, Hirosaki Castle

Notes: Artist's brush signature and red seal. Large jizuri seal in upper left margin. For this particular design, Yoshida decided to use zinc plates rather than cutting the image into wooden blocks, which allowed him to carve the design with more intricate detail. "For the Japanese, viewing cherry blossoms is an annual rite of spring. In 1935, Hiroshi produced a splendid series of woodcuts called Eight Scenes of Cherry Blossoms. This one, the most dynamic and popular image of the set, shows Hirosaki Castle. The location of the castle is said to be the best place in all the world to view cherry blossoms with around five thousand cherry trees coming into full bloom every year during late April and early May." - A Japanese Legacy, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; pg. 65. The pagoda of Kofuku-ji Temple towers over the Sarusawa pond. Two deer are strolling on the snow covered bank.