Tokyo Tower
東京タワー
- Date:
- c. 1960
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Typical Price
Tokyo Tower, completed in 1958, dates this print to Kasamatsu's later career and raises the question of whether it was a Watanabe or Unsodo publication. If Watanabe, expect $800-$2,000; if Unsodo, $200-$600. Regardless of publisher, this print fascinates as a document of mid-century Tokyo's rapid modernization seen through the eyes of an artist trained in the traditional woodblock craft.
Description
Tokyo Tower, created around 1960 by Shiro Kasamatsu, depicts the iconic communications tower that was completed in 1958 and immediately became the defining symbol of Japan's postwar modernization. Now held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this print represents an important moment in Kasamatsu's career when he turned his attention from traditional temple and landscape subjects to embrace the dramatic transformations reshaping Tokyo's skyline.
The print renders Tokyo Tower with Kasamatsu's characteristic atmospheric sensitivity, likely showing the lattice structure of the 333-meter tower rising against the sky with surrounding cityscape elements providing scale and context. Rather than depicting the tower as a stark symbol of modernity, Kasamatsu integrates it into the atmospheric landscape tradition of shin-hanga, applying the same techniques of graduated color, atmospheric perspective, and mood that he employed for centuries-old temples and natural scenery.
This approach was significant in the context of postwar Japanese printmaking. While many shin-hanga artists continued to focus exclusively on traditional subjects, Kasamatsu demonstrated that the movement's aesthetic principles could accommodate contemporary architecture without sacrificing artistic quality or emotional resonance. The tower's red-and-white steel framework, inspired by the Eiffel Tower but standing taller, offered rich possibilities for the woodblock medium, with its geometric lattice pattern creating an interplay of structure and sky.
Tokyo Tower holds an important place in Kasamatsu's later body of work as evidence of his artistic adaptability. Having begun his career in the 1920s depicting Edo-era temples and Taisho-era streetscapes, he continued evolving through the Showa period to document the emergence of a new Japan. This print bridges the traditional and modern aspects of his oeuvre, applying time-honored printmaking techniques to a subject that represented Japan's aspirations for the future. It remains one of the most recognizable images in his extensive catalog and a fascinating document of mid-century Tokyo.
