Akasaka Palais by Hiratsuka, Un'chi

From a portfolio of 15 prints created by nine artists, entitled Scenes of Last Tokyo, published by Fugaku Shuppansha in 1945. The phrase, "Last Tokyo" is thought to be a typographical error for "Lost Tokyo". Excerpts from the introduction to the portfolio states that "Tokyo did not escape the ravages of war, and many buildings were damaged or reduced to ashes. The fifteen selected views were not all of course totally destroyed, but all of them received some misfortune. Here, members of the Japanese Print Association have put those scenes into woodblock prints as a reminiscence of Creative Prints , and have decided to publish them as a retrospective document".

Lawrence Smith, "Japanese Prints During the Allied Occupation", pp. 23-26, 37, 58-61, 89.
The Lavenberg Collection of Japanese Prints, myjapanesehanga.com.

Age: 1945
Media: Woodblock print.
Size: 8 x 10.25 inches
Condition: Very good, faint spotting