Fu Takenaka – Oinarisan

Original woodblock print, numbered 143/200. The first edition of this design was published in the Heisei period (1989 – 2019). The current print was printed in 2023.

The Fushima Inari Shrine is one of the most famous of shrines of Japan. With Oinarisan Fu Takenaka depicts its Senbon Torii here, consisting of around 1000 Torii gates. They are a common source of inspiration for artists from the Kyoto area. Another example is Teruhide Kato with his Senbon Torii.

Image size (excluding margins): 32.5 * 22.0 cm (12.8 * 8.7 in).

The print is in very good state. There is a faint printing imperfection in the middle, horizontally in the image, common to a lot of the posthumous prints of this design.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

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Fu Takenaka (1945 – 2022) was a successful woodblock print artist. She had a background in design, fashion and fabric, and transitioned to woodblock printing later in life. Her favorite themes were temples in and around Kyoto and owls. She depicted these in a dreamlike style, very distinct from other Japanese woodblock print artists.

Fu Takenaka collaborated with the Kyoto based woodblock print publisher Unsodo, but designed, carved and printed the works herself, from start to finish. They were published in limited editions, hand-signed and numbered in pencil. Since her passing Unsodo has started to complete her limited editions. Currently we have both the first of these as well as a number of remaining life-time editions on offer.

See an overview of Fu Takenaka's woodblock prints