“Ōbai-in, Daitoku-ji” — Masao Ido, 1990 limited edition woodblock print 153/180

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“Ōbai-in, Daitoku-ji” — Masao Ido, 1990 Limited Edition Woodblock Print 153/180

Masao Ido’s Ōbai-in captures one of Kyoto’s most exclusive Zen sanctuaries — a sub-temple of Daitoku-ji so rarely opened to the public that few visitors, let alone artists, have had the chance to render it. Through a half-open bamboo gate, dappled maple light falls across weathered stone paving toward a granite lantern and moss-cloaked garden, with the temple’s tiled rooftops layered beyond an ochre plaster wall. It’s a masterclass in mokuhanga: crisp registration, subtly textured washi, and a restrained palette of ochre, moss green, and charcoal grey that lets the architecture and light do the talking.

Ōbai-in itself is steeply significant — founded in 1562 under Oda Nobunaga, later expanded by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and home to a moss garden believed to have been designed by tea master Sen no Rikyū. It opens to visitors only a few weeks a year, making Ido’s print one of the few ways to experience its hidden beauty at all.

Signed, titled, and dated in pencil by the artist, with his red seal, this is number 153 from an edition of 180 — a hand-pulled woodblock print in the traditions of shin-hanga and sōsaku-hanga, produced using the same carving and printing techniques as Japan’s Edo-period masters, but rendered with a modern, architectural sensibility. Presented in a museum-quality frame, ready to hang.

Dimensions:

• Print: H 33 × W 45.5 cm (H 13 × W 17⅞ in)
• Frame: H 45 × W 57 × D 3 cm (H 17¾ × W 22½ × D 1¼ in)

On the Artist — Masao Ido

Masao Ido (born 1945) is a contemporary Japanese woodblock print artist celebrated for his quiet, architecturally precise depictions of Kyoto’s temples, gardens, and gates. Working in the modern mokuhanga tradition, his prints favor still, contemplative compositions — thresholds, walls, and filtered light — that reveal the meditative atmosphere of Kyoto’s temple culture rather than dramatic landscape views. His editions are typically hand-pulled in small runs and are sought after among collectors of contemporary Japanese prints.

On Woodblock Printing (Mokuhanga)

Mokuhanga is the traditional Japanese method of multi-block, water-based relief printing developed over centuries. A separate hand-carved wooden block is used for each color, printed in careful registration onto washi paper using water-based pigments and a hand-held baren — never a mechanical press. The result is a distinctive softness and depth of color impossible to replicate with Western printmaking, and each impression carries subtle variation, a hallmark of genuine hand craftsmanship.

Colors may slightly vary due to photographic lighting sources or your monitor settings.

The print will be shipped insured overseas in a custom made wooden case. 
Cost of transport to the US, Euro 245, is case included.

Wear consistent with age and use.

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