Statue of of Jizo at Jurin-in in Takahata, Nara, from the series "Ten Views of Nara"

Although he always began his print projects by producing a drawing of his design, Hiratsuka Un’ichi also changed his designs while he was carving, as if he was drawing with the knife. He is regarded as the best-trained block carver in the creative print movement and became the first printmaker to receive the Order of Cultural Merit from the Japanese government in 1970.

His subjects vary greatly but include Buddhist images, monuments, and portraits of friends and family members. Large scenes of temples and their sculptures produced during the artist’s most energetic period in the 1960s, such as this print, rank among his best-known works.